The Ties That Bind Us
by EmbraceDiversity
Summary: AU: Hinata is a young mother who works as Itachi's personal secretary. When he asks her and Sasuke to attend an important corporate dinner in his stead, the two polar opposites find themselves drawing closer together, whether they like it or not.Sasu/Hina
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** This story had been put on hold because I had been struggling as to where I had wanted to go with it. In the end, I decided to end it at 11 chapters with 12 being the Epilogue. I think I made the right choice ending it where I did but we'll see.

This is an AU and it's Sasu/Hina. I will say this: I wanted to try and make Sasuke a spoiled, rich boy bachelor and his personality reflects it for a while. It's implied in the story that the entire Uchiha family is elitist and he definitely thinks highly of himself. He acts very…typical guy-ish. I really loved writing this story strictly because of Kenta. I know there's the story with Rashi but this fic had been around prior to _Prodigy_, I just hadn't finished it. So this story was my first attempt at a 'family' sort of story and I really loved writing it. It is, however, rated M, because 1) I'm a pervert and 2) I like cussin'.

I also _really_ loved writing Itachi in this story. He's so…well you'll see. Enjoy!

**Chapter One**

xxxxx

Putting his hand to his face, Sasuke Uchiha let out a rather loud yawn, ignoring the small stares from the people beside him. In one arm was his briefcase and his other hand was now being shoved into the pocket of his pants as he looked with a rather bored expression off in the distance. His boss and somewhat friend Kakashi Hatake had driven him to his apartment last night so he had decided to take the train to work. Not doing so often he stopped by one of his favorite breakfast places for some coffee and a bit of food before continuing his trek to his place of employment. Now he stood at the crosswalk, a little tired since Itachi had asked him to come in early and he had worked late last night, staring at absolutely nothing.

The road wasn't too crowded this early in the morning which annoyed him because he _still_ had to stand at the crosswalk until he could go, he was sure the cop standing off in the adjacent street munching on a donut and downing coffee wouldn't appreciate him jaywalking. He didn't really think of himself as not being a morning person and he didn't see himself as being a morning person; he was somewhere in the middle. This morning, however, he definitely was leaning towards the negative aspect of being a morning person and resisted the urge to smack his forehead along the light pole simply because he was _that_ tired.

Never again would he allow Kakashi to convince him to have 'just a drink or two' at midnight when he had work early the next morning. Right now he just wanted to throw something or scream in tired frustration because what the hell,_ why_ was he awake two hours before his normal shift started?

_That bastard probably did this on purpose, knowing that Itachi wanted to see me early this morning._ Sasuke thought bitterly and did in fact lightly lean his head against the pole, wishing for sweet oblivion to claim him.

Something hit his foot and bounced off his shin. Looking down he blinked at a dark blue ball now rolling near his loafers. Well, there was a park just across the street so he supposed it came from there? He wasn't sure, thinking wasn't really on the forefront of his mind at the moment.

There were some gasps and Sasuke looked up, his gaze locking on a little boy across the road. He looked no older than five or six with dark brown hair and the weirdest eyes he had ever seen. They were a pale silver, almost white.

"Hey Mister!" the boy called "That's my ball!"

In the background he could hear a woman crying out a name although he couldn't quite see her. He continued to blink at the kid and then bent down, picking up the ball. "You mean this?" he asked

"Yeah!" the child waved "I'll come get it!" And just like that he ran right out on the street while the light was still green. The small group standing beside him all let out another startled gasp and he could hear the woman in the park screaming frantically, running as fast as she could to get to her – what he could only assume to be – her son.

For some reason that he could only determine to be fate traffic decided it wanted to pick up a bit and the kid was about twenty seconds away from being hit by a semi truck.

_What the fuck is that kid doing?_ The Uchiha thought frantically and before he knew it he had dropped his briefcase and the ball rushing out at top speed. He heard the horn of the semi and he saw the kid stop dead, his eyes wide in fear. The kid had probably known that at this time in the morning traffic wasn't too bad, he had probably even ran out across the street before and hadn't thought twice about it. Unfortunately now he realized that he had miscalculated, all because he hadn't looked across the street.

"Kenta!" he heard the mother scream.

Sasuke's arm slammed into the kid as he snatched him up right as the truck was coming, almost clipping him in the process. Pulling the boy close he landed and rolled a few times before settling, his heart pounding, breaths coming out harsh. The boy was near tears and thankfully the other cars that had been coming had stopped at a good enough distance due to the scene in front of them.

Sitting up, the Uchiha regarded the boy. His knee was scraped but beyond that he looked fine, just shaken and looking as if he wanted to cry at any moment.

Something shifted through the man and he reached out and gripped the child's shoulders, shaking him lightly "Don't you ever, _ever_ do something like that again kid, do you understand me?" His voice was hard and snappish. As their gazes locked the boy nodded weakly and could no longer hold the tears that had been threatening to emerge. Big fat teardrops began to roll down the boy's cheeks and the mother finally arrived, grabbing the boy from Sasuke and pulling him close. She was also crying and her long purple hair was a windswept mess from her running. He regarded the woman blankly for a moment, feeling for a moment as if he knew her. The mother looked up at him and she too held those same unique eyes, except hers held a tint of lavender, not silver. Her face was red and tears were rolling down pale cheeks.

Another surge of anger rushed through him as he stood up "And you, Mom. What the hell are you doing, allowing your kid to just run out into morning traffic? Have you taught this kid anything?" he wasn't shouting, he didn't shout, but he was definitely angry and he was definitely loud enough for anyone around to hear him.

She let out a gasp and flinched as if he had physically struck her. Delicate hands moved to her mouth in horror and guilt and the tears increased, her body lightly shaking. "I…." she stammered "I-I…"

Something sharp hit him in the shin. Looking down he saw the boy, still with tears in his eyes, but looking up at him angrily and with determination.

"Don't yell at my mom!" the boy snapped "It's not her fault, leave her alone!"

_Did this kid just kick me after I saved his life?_ Sasuke couldn't even believe what he was experiencing right at this moment so he just stared down at the child as if he were stupid and the woman pulled him back into her arms.

Ignoring them, he took stock of his own condition. His suit was pretty much ruined, he would have to head home and change and end up being late for whatever it was Itachi wanted him for. He let out a short curse and began to dust himself off, irritated.

The mother stood, a shaky hand moving through her long hair "I-I'm so…I'm so sorry," she began, her voice watery, as if she were ready to start sobbing at any minute "Thank you…thank you so much for saving my son I…please l-let me pay you for a new suit." She looked down then, her son attached to her long pale blue skirt. She even _looked_ like a mom with her long sleeved violet shirt and skirt ensemble. Letting out another curse he waved her off.

"Don't bother, you couldn't afford it anyway." He snapped, turning his back on them. "Just keep a better eye on your kid lady." Sasuke's hip hurt just a bit but not enough to make him limp, so when he went back to the other side of the street he swept down and snatched his briefcase up in one fluid motion and began to head back to his house.

_This was one of my better suits too._ He mused angrily at the damage done to his two thousand dollar Armani outfit. There was no repairing the rips and tears, he'd just have to buy a new one.

Sometime along while he was on the train back to his apartment, he realized that he had probably been a little harsh with the mother. It wasn't as if the woman hadn't tried to stop her kid, he just hadn't listened and she had been too far away to get to him in time. Looking out the window of the train he thought back on the way her face had looked when he had all but called her a crappy mother. A poor one at that, having accused her of not being able to afford a new suit for him. Well, she looked middle class anyway so he felt it was an accurate enough assumption to make.

_This is why I hate kids._ The Uchiha thought to himself. _They're a waste of time and effort and they don't like to be obedient when it's actually necessary. Now I'm out one suit and I'm going to be atrociously late to work._

Thankfully Itachi had understood when he had called to tell him that he'd be late and why. He even complimented his little brother for going out of his way to save a child. Whatever made him happy, Sasuke supposed.

He grabbed a quick shower and changed into his second favorite suit and headed back out. By the time he reached work he was actually technically 'on time' for his normal shift. Walking inside the building he ignored the ornate decorating and the security guard sitting at his desk who gave him a small hello. He ignored the receptionist/information woman when she tried to catch him in conversation to flirt. He wasn't in the mood. Instead Sasuke walked straight towards the golden elevators of Uchiha Inc. and pressed the button for the top floor.

"Wait!" A voice cried. A familiar voice. "Please hold the elevator!"

For some reason he actually complied although normally in a mood like this he would have let the door close without a second thought. A woman rushed inside with a rushed but polite 'thank you' and the doors closed behind her.

She wasn't very tall, probably five or so inches shorter than him, with dark purple hair that was pulled up into a pristine bun at the back of her head. She was clutching her bag to her chest as she tried to regain her breath. Despite running not a hair on her head looked out of place and the pale gray business outfit she was wearing looked nice. Not a name brand or anything, but nice. When she looked up at him to thank him again she froze.

Sasuke's own eyes widened at the woman from this morning with those strange pale eyes. He felt as if something had just punched him hard in the gut.

_This is so ironic it hurts._

Uncomfortable silence filled the elevator as the woman moved to stand on the opposite side, looking away from him, her head down a bit. The earlier guilt from before crept up on him and he found himself sighing before putting a hand through his hair.

"Look, about this morning," he began. She didn't look over at him and didn't speak so he continued "I saw you running just like me to get your kid, you really _didn't_ do anything wrong and I uh, shouldn't have snapped at you." And that was as much of an apology as she was going to get from him. Uchiha didn't _apologize_ damnit and if he absolutely had to do it he made sure it was only twice a year lest it become habit. So his quota was half full already.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear she looked timidly up at him, giving him a shaky smile "N-no I…I should have been watching him better. Kenta was playing with the other kids so I…I didn't notice it until it was too late." Her voice wavered slightly and she took a small shuddering breath "I-I owe you so much for saving him." Then something shifted in her eyes and her smile looked a little wry "And I can actually pay you back for the suit, it would just take me a paycheck or two."

_Man, I'm such a dick._ "Yeah…" he leaned his head against the wall of the elevator, feeling rather crappy about himself. He was sure that this woman that he had never seen before until now – no wait, that's why he had thought she looked familiar! – running into the elevator after he had practically insulted completely as a person was karma's way of going 'Hahaha, fuck you Sasuke'. It wasn't even remotely funny how uncomfortable and ironic this situation was. "Really, don't worry about it. I was kind of a jerk earlier so we'll call it even."

Flashing him another smile she turned her attentions back to the front of the elevator and the tension in the air lightened considerably. Since she wasn't looking at him he decided to look at her, sizing her up. Her skin was very pale, as if it had never even felt a UV ray in its life. Her face was slightly round and he figured that she was probably in her early twenties. The business suit looked nice on her, it seemed as if she had a decent figure underneath the jacket and skirt but it was a little difficult to tell. The biggest thing he noticed, however, was the lack of ring on her finger.

Huh.

"Divorced?" The Uchiha asked and when she looked back at him in confusion he pointed to her hands "Usually a widow would still be wearing her ring."

Something strange crossed her features and her face flushed, bringing color to her cheeks. He thought mildly that it actually made her look a little cute "N-neither." She answered and turned back to the front.

"Oh, one of those high school accidents or something?" Never had things like subtlety or respect for a person's personal space been something he had held in high regard if he didn't want to, so when she gave him a very uncomfortable and upset look he just blankly stared back. It was just a question.

"Th-that's a really p-personal question to ask someone…" she actually sounded mortified.

"Forget I asked then." Shrugging, he finally turned his gaze away from her. As they continued to go up past floors Sasuke realized that she hadn't pushed a button for her floor. Surely she wasn't going to the executive floor. _Surely_ he would have known if she was an executive or something. He wasn't quite there yet, he was still working his way up like all Uchiha did when coming to work for the company, but he at least knew the people there and her face was definitely not something he would have forgotten.

He would have asked but since she had gotten so upset about his last question he decided he didn't want to bother; he'd find out soon enough.

When the elevator finally stopped at the top floor he motioned for her to go first. She gave him a small and slightly uncomfortable smile and a 'thank you' before heading straight in the direction of Itachi's office.

_You have got to be kidding me. _He thought dumbly _There's no way she…_

Just as she walked into the small alcove leading to Itachi's office she made a small right turn and walked into an office. The receptionist was sitting at her desk off to the side of Itachi's door, taking phone calls and he looked up at the title on the woman's door. It said 'Executive Assistant'.

_She's Itachi's personal secretary?_ He thought in disbelief as he regarded the woman through her window as she sat down and promptly went to work. Why had he never noticed her until now? Was she new?

Deciding to push it aside for now he walked over to the receptionist, a young lady of around twenty years of age who had bright orange hair – for now – with matching nails and outfit. She flashed him a bright smile, her face turning a bit red at his presence.

"Mr. Uchiha," she said, sounding a little breathy. Mentally he raised an eyebrow at her, outwardly he expressed no emotion. "He's waiting for you now, please go in."

"Thanks." He ignored her eyes on him as he opened the large wooden door to his brother's – the president's – office.

"Ms. Hyuuga." The voice that came over her speaker was low and definitely male. Hinata recognized her boss' voice and leaned forward to respond. Being a man of few words whenever possible, she had grown used to the small quirks of her boss, such as if he simply said her name it meant he wanted her in his office ASAP. Depending on the tone would let her know if he was upset or not. He didn't sound upset, to her relief, although Itachi sounding 'upset' was a bit of an exaggeration. Itachi never 'sounded' anything but dull and even unless you had known him for quite some time. She was thankfully one of those people.

"Yes sir, I'll be right there." She responded and smoothly stood up from her seat and took the side entrance into Itachi's office.

The man from earlier was inside and immediately their gazes locked onto one another, surprised. Hinata quickly recovered and turned her gaze to her boss, not wanting to regard the strange and rather rude man beside her. She would be eternally grateful to him for saving her son but his attitude stunk and she wanted nothing really to do with him personally.

"Do you two know each other?" Itachi's voice came in, his dark gaze scanning over the two of them calmly.

"N-no, sir," She answered honestly. "We've only met today and even then it was very brief. We did not exchange introductions." The man beside her stiffened as if he had just realized that he _hadn't_ told her his name and vice versa.

"Ah," the president remarked with a small smile "Well, I suppose we should fix that now. Ms. Hyuuga, this is my younger brother, Sasuke. Sasuke, this is my personal secretary, Ms. Hinata Hyuuga. You two haven't formally met before but she's been with the company as long as you have; around five years right?"

The two standing adults looked at each other in surprise. Well, she had known Itachi had a younger brother, she just hadn't known that he had been working for the company for almost five years. His thoughts seemed to mirror hers and they turned back to Itachi who looked slightly amused.

"Ms. Hyuuga, I have actually called you here for a specific reason," he began "not this Saturday but the next after there will be a corporate dinner, a formal occasion of course. As I am sure you realize as you are the one who sets up my schedule, I will be out of the country that weekend. I know I have asked you to attend these sort of dinners before and you have declined, however, I am asking you if you could attend as my representative."

Her mouth actually dropped slightly before she recovered "S-sir, I-"

Itachi waved her off "Ms. Hyuuga, you know just as much about the on-goings, clients, and dealings this company encounters as much as I. Also, you understand my feelings concerning all of our clients and our associations with them. I would not ask this of you if I felt you could not do it."

Hinata couldn't speak for a moment, she was too stunned. Her boss wanted _her_ to attend a formal dinner as his representative? He had asked her to attend such occasions before, more of on a 'company date' sort of thing than anything else. Hinata had always declined because of Kenta, but she wasn't sure if she could turn this request down.

"S-sir I…" she tried again "I am honored that you would ask me to be your representative but I-I'm not sure if I-I could…"

Itachi let out a small sigh, obviously having expected this. "Well, I can ask someone else, although I was hoping you would agree this time. Very well I –"

"Why can't you go?" Sasuke suddenly asked, giving her a strange look "Is it because you can't find anyone to watch your kid?"

The room became very silent for a solid two minutes.

"Ms. Hyuuga…you have a child?" Itachi regarded her with a slightly surprised expression. "I was not aware, you've always claimed that you are unmarried with no children."

There were two things Hinata wanted to do. First, she wanted to kick Sasuke in the shins about the same way Kenta had earlier that morning. Second, she wanted to cry, because this revelation could very well get her fired for lying on her application and interview, not to mention she had carried the lie on for so long.

"I…" Hinata wrung her hands together and let out a small sigh "I was…I was eighteen years old and I had no formal training. When you accepted me into this position I felt that if I had told you I had a little boy it would have ruined my chances and I-"

Itachi held up a hand "I believe I understand. I am assuming then that you continued to keep silent because you were worried you would get in trouble for submitting false information to us?" When she nodded he smiled a bit and leaned back in his chair. "Well, if I had known this, I would have been able to inform you that each company dinner hires individuals to take care of any children that are brought along, all of them certified of course."

Her eyes snapped up at her boss in surprise "Th-they do?"

"Yes, although you didn't know because you never attended one." He remarked coolly and it was only because his mouth was still slightly quirked up that she knew he was only teasing her. "If the only reason you have not attended is because of your son, it is not an issue; he will be well taken care of until you decide to leave. May I ask his name and age?"

"Um, his name is Kenta and he's almost six years old."

"Ah. So you had him while still in high school, I presume?"

"What?" she asked ineloquently "O-oh, no sir. Kenta isn't…he's not my biological son. He's the son of my late cousin and his…fiancé. I was named godmother and when they passed away I took him in as his legal guardian. S-so I've had him since he was a baby…"

Both men regarded her with no small amount of awe "So at eighteen you took in a child that was not yours and you have been raising him on your own all this time?" Itachi actually sounded impressed "Your record has also been outstanding, I must applaud you for your ability to manage your work and your child at the same time; many single mothers cannot do such a thing."

Her face flamed "I-it's not…Kenta's mother had no living relatives and I couldn't allow him to get adopted out, they wouldn't have wanted that. Sir, I'm so very sorry I kept it from you all this time it's just because I was hired here I was able to afford Kenta the things he needed and-"

"Ms. Hyuuga, I am not upset." Her boss remarked "Surprised, but not upset. Although it does make me wonder why you do not ask for raises more often. You know that I will never remember to do it if you don't inform me of these things."

"I didn't want to…I've already had three raises since working here so…and it's been enough…"

Itachi chuckled lightly "You have always been a very modest and humble person Ms. Hyuuga, I do believe that is why I have kept you here for so long. That and you're exceptionally good at your duties. I _will_ however, ask that you make a note for me to raise your pay and please do not allow me to forget this time. Now that we've settled the situation somewhat, might I ask once again if you would be so kind as to attend the dinner next Saturday as my representative? As I've said, I can and will have someone else do it if absolutely necessary, but I would prefer it to be you."

Hinata nodded. As long as Kenta was taken care of she was fine with it. "I'd love to sir."

"Good. It has only taken me four years to get you to go to one, but I'm a patient man." Her face burned even hotter because she knew he was, once again, teasing her. Itachi turned his attentions to his brother "I am assuming you wish to know why I've had you stand in on our little conversation?"

"The thought did cross my mind once or twice, yeah." Sasuke remarked with a blank expression on his features.

"I've requested your presence because normally there are two members from each company that attend, this would usually be myself and whoever I would invite to attend." Hinata pretended to ignore the look he sent her way "I have decided that my new executive would be an excellent escort for Ms. Hyuuga."

The younger Uchiha blinked at his brother dumbly "Wait. You're promoting me?"

"Yes. Congratulations." Itachi remarked dryly "A raise and a promotion, I do believe I've accomplished my good deed quota for the year. Will you go Sasuke?"

Sasuke put a hand through the back of his head "Of course, Itachi; you know I will."

"Excellent. That sets my mind at ease at least for this situat-"

Both Hinata and Itachi's watches went off. They both regarded the time. Hinata looked up at her boss.

"Sir, you're nine o'clock," she began

"Yes, I'm going." Smoothly Itachi stood from his desk and grabbed his briefcase "A brief recap if you please, Ms. Hyuuga." He began to walk out the room, Hinata close behind him.

"Yes, sir. You have the nine o' clock executive meeting, after that the representatives from Suna Industrials are meeting with you for lunch at around eleven thirty – " Itachi immediately began to set his watch for his next meeting as she spoke "at Celeste's,"

"Are you sure it wasn't Blue Shell?" he raised a delicate eyebrow at her.

"Yes sir, the meeting was changed to Celeste's yesterday afternoon. You signed off on it."

"Hm. Draft up the standard 'thank you for meeting with us blah blah blah' letter for them and have it sent out by the end of the day."

Pulling out a pen and pad she scribbled down his instructions "It will be sent while you are at lunch, sir."

"Excellent. That is all the recap I need for now Ms. Hyuuga, I have my planner for the later meetings. I will not be returning to the office today so please feel free to take an early day if you so desire."

"Yes, sir." She remarked although they both knew she wouldn't. She never took an early day. "Would you like me to send you alerts through your phone for the remaining meetings?"

"Thoughtful of you, but no. I don't want to trouble you with it." He stopped in his tracks and regarded Hinata "Most importantly, the drafts for the two deals we have under negotiation will be coming to my office. You're well aware of my stance on both of them, you have authority to approve the drafts if you feel they meet to mine and the client's specifications."

Itachi's secretary smiled and nodded "Yes, sir. Shall I e-mail you the results?"

"Please do since I will not be returning. I'll review them tonight." He gave Hinata and Sasuke a short nod "Good day to you both." And then he was gone around the corner and to his private elevator.

With a small sigh she wrote down the remainder of his instructions before regarding Sasuke who had apparently been following them. The look he was giving her made her feel a little uncomfortable.

"My brother trusts you a lot, doesn't he?" He observed "He never leaves things to others if he can help it."

"Um well, I have been here for five years and I-I've always made sure that Mr. Uchiha wouldn't have to worry about anything he didn't need to worry about."

"Hn." Regarding her for another moment he tilted his head at her slightly "What time do you take lunch?"

"Eh?" Blinking up at him she began to think "Um, Mr. Uchiha normally takes his lunches at one pm if he's here, so I usually go at the same time."

"One huh?" the younger Uchiha didn't seem terribly thrilled at eating lunch so late "Alright, since we're doing this dinner thing together I figure we might as well have a lunch and get to know each other a little better…since we didn't exactly get off on the right foot."

Boy was that an understatement. Hinata smiled "That is fine, Mr. Uchiha."

He gave her a disgusted look "Don't call me that, I hate it when people call me that. Just Sasuke." With a sigh he put his hands in his pockets and looked off to the side "Well, since I've _obviously_ been promoted I'm going to have to go see where my new office will be and move my stuff. You'd think he would have at least hinted at this, my team is going to be pissed." Realizing that Hinata was still there and he had been talking outloud to himself he gave her a short wave and turned to head back to the elevator "I'll be here around twelve fifty-five alright? Later."

Left standing there, all Hinata could do is watch Sasuke's retreating back as she went through the events of this morning through her head. It was a wonder she hadn't fainted yet, so many things had happened already.

_If this is how my morning is going to be I don't even want to know how my afternoon will go._ With another sigh she walked back into her office.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** I will say this; growing up as a tomboy I learned a tad bit about what guys do/talk/think about when women aren't around (or when they are). I'm also prior military…so yeah, it got interesting when you were in a small space with a bunch of guys and they stopped caring that you were a girl and said whatever. In any case, this chapter definitely shows Sasuke's rather bachelor/elitist state of mind, and I giggled while writing it. It gets worse before it gets better so I hope you enjoy the lulz.

Oh yeah, Sasuke isn't exaggerating when he talks about Itachi. Just for future reference. Also, because I'm not a complete jerk, I'm going to upload chapter 3 tonight as well because this chapter ends in such a horrible cliffhanger.

xxxxx

**Chapter Two**

xxxxx

Sasuke discovered a bit later that his new office was actually just around the corner from Hinata's, the first door to the left that headed towards Itachi's private elevator. The room itself was ridiculously large and quite barren save for his desk, chair, computer, and filing cabinets. He noted that there were no windows. His last office hadn't had any windows either, was Itachi trying to tell him something?

The team that he had been leading down on the lower levels were, of course, upset about his sudden departure. He gave his 'second' a crash course turnover and promised to send all the documents and e-mails that he would need and to contact him in case of emergency. Then an hour passed as he packed his crap in a box and brought it to the upper level.

His office made it so that unless he used Itachi's elevator he would pass by Hinata's office on a daily basis. Her office _did_ have windows and was brightly lit from the sun as her head was bent over some document or another.

Even with his ego he had to admit that Hinata Hyuuga was an impressive woman. Admirable in a way he would never be as well. If he had been given a kid he would have sent the little bastard straight to an adoption agency, he had no time or patience for children. They had three volumes on them – somewhat loud, loud, and screaming – couldn't really do anything useful until they were almost teenagers anyway, were bratty and he _hated_ hearing children cry. Especially babies. Yowling, high-pitched little hell spawns that made him want to kick something cute and cuddly just out of spite. Obviously she had that special patience that he was sure he would never want or even try to acquire.

Besides, he thoroughly enjoyed his bachelor life. He had a girlfriend, Sakura Haruno, and even that was somewhat of an off and on relationship depending on how irritated she would become over his constant late nights at work. He had a fern at home that he watered and kept well taken care of as if it were his pet – he didn't like animals either – and he had the only female in his life that would ever matter to him. Anna, his black Porsche Carrera GT with the custom interior and a few modifications to make it go a 'tad' bit faster than what she'd been clocked at. That car mattered more to him than well…his girlfriend. If given a choice between Anna and Sakura, Anna would win every single time. Sasuke Uchiha came from a rich family and his pockets were endless when it came to cash damn near and he had just been promoted today. His life was _good_. He could never imagine himself as a parent much less a _single_ parent.

On top of that Itachi highly respected her and trusted her. Sasuke also suspected his brother might have a little thing for his secretary but if he knew Itachi, he knew he would never ever pursue it. Do not mix work with pleasure, that was both brother's mottos. Not that he could blame him, the woman was pretty and he was pretty sure she had a hot figure underneath those clothes. He'd tap that.

Setting up his office into some semblance of order had taken him until his designated meeting time with Hinata, so he left everything out for now and headed out to find the saint-like woman. She was in her office, of course, still working. She probably didn't even recognize the time.

Since she kept her office door open he leaned against the door frame and knocked. Pale eyes snapped up quickly to him and her gaze flickered back to her computer screen before she sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize the time." She said "Just give me a moment to grab my bag."

"We still have time," the Uchiha remarked "I'm here five minutes early."

Pulling the strap of her bag over her shoulder she stood up and gave him a small smile "I'm ready now. What did you have in mind?"

He motioned for her to follow him as he headed to the elevator "There's this family restaurant called Jonathan's nearby. It's not cheap and it's not expensive, I eat there every now and then when I'm too lazy to be bothered to drive somewhere. It's decent food."

"Oh, I think I've been there before with Kenta," she remarked off handedly.

_I'm sure you have._ "How long do you usually take for your breaks?"

"Um, an hour, two if I know I'll be going home too late."

Stepping into the elevator Sasuke gave her a strange look "What about your kid?"

"Kenta?" A reassuring smile "After school Kenta goes to the community center next door. They take children up until ten years of age and they're open twenty four hours. I was so lucky to find it; he's been going there since I was hired here."

For some reason, he was sorry he asked. He really didn't want to know, or cared, about her son. He soon decided that he was going to associate with her only until after the dinner, and then she was getting cut off. The last thing he wanted was a female friend babbling about her kid all day.

Because it was later in the lunch hour the place wasn't as crowded as it usually was when he would normally show up. When one of the waitresses spotted him she hurriedly rushed to the back and he found himself mentally sighing. _Now_ he remembered why he had stopped coming here recently. It wasn't that he didn't like the attention – he kinda did – but he _did_ have a girlfriend and he was nothing if not honorable. Even though he didn't love her or have any intentions of marrying her she was the only person he had been with in the past three years. Whenever Sakura did finally get tired of his crap and dumped him then he'd happily become a man whore for a few months or so. Sex without attachments? Yes, please.

They picked a seat and a waitress – who wasn't at all terrible looking – practically bounced over to them and handed them cups of water.

"Just buzz when you're ready to order," she said, mostly to him, with a wink before walking away. When he realized Hinata had caught him staring at his waitress as she walked away he turned and gave her a blank look. _Yes, I look, I'm a guy and she's kind of hot._ _And yes I did check you out as well._

As if reading his mind her face turned that interesting shade of red and she glanced down at her menu and he almost smiled, amused. Women could be so sensitive about things a man just naturally did without even thinking about it. On Hinata, however, it made her look innocent and possibly a little naive, although the intelligence she had displayed earlier squashed the latter thought.

"Okay," he began, wanting to break the ice "Tell me about yourself."

Her gaze flicked up to him before flicking back to the menu "Um, could I order first? I already know what I want."

Shrugging, he hit the buzzer. Two second later his waitress with the interesting posterior returned. "Yes?" she inquired. Sasuke motioned for Hinata to go first.

"Oh, um…I'll have the hamburg with egg. Rice please with that, small. I'm fine with water to drink."

"Tomato soup and this weird pasta thing you guys have here. The ones with the sliced tomatoes and cherry tomatoes?"

"Oh!" the woman entered their order on her pad "Sure thing, what would you like to drink?"

"Water's fine."

"I'll be back with your orders soon." She said, once again mostly to him, and walked away.

"Anyway," he turned back to his 'date' "so…" he trailed off. He wasn't going to repeat himself.

Hinata let out a soft sigh and he began to notice she did that a lot. Was she exasperated with him or something? "I'm twenty three years old, I have a five year old son. On the weekends we-"

"I asked you to tell me about yourself, not give me your personal schedule." He cut in the moment she started bringing the child into the picture. "What are your hobbies? What do you like to do? Do you ever go out without your kid? Favorite color, whatever. Stuff like that."

Her gaze kept shifting away from him nervously, annoying him a bit. "I used to press flowers, now I have a few little plants that I take care of and that's become more of a hobby for me. Um, I haven't really done much since I took in Kenta, it's difficult to have free time when you're a single parent working the sort of hours I work. No, I don't go out without Kenta, we're usually always together. My favorite color is purple. A-and my favorite foods are zenzai and cinnamon rolls. I usually bake some for Kenta during the weekends when I have time because it's something we can both enjoy."

Well, that was a decent step in the right direction. Their food arrived and Sasuke decided to give her some information "I'm, as you already know, the younger brother to Itachi Uchiha who is currently the president of our family's company. Pretty much anything active I don't mind doing; skiing, surfing, hiking, camping, stuff like that. I have a fern that's lived for a few years and that's as far as my gardening skills go. I have a girlfriend that I've been seeing off and on for three years named Sakura. If you see a pink haired woman bouncing around top level that's probably her looking for me. Anyway, I hate anything sweet and my favorite foods are tomatoes and onigiri. My favorite color is blue, I guess. I don't really think I have a favorite color really. I like expensive clothes, I love my car Anna…" when she began to giggle at him he glared at her "I seriously do love my car, cut it out."

Shaking her head she put a hand to her mouth "It's not…that I'm laughing at you." She explained "I…for some reason I just found it to be rather, um, cute. I-I mean, I sometimes name my plants s-so it's not so different."

"Cute." He deadpanned, looking at her with a blank expression. When she started giggling again he decided to stop looking at her and focus on his food. "Anyway, I guess that's enough for now. Do you have anything formal to wear to this thing?"

He almost hit his head on the table when she began to look nervous. Instead he leaned his head back. "This is why you need to go out more." He said, his voice strained from his position. Sitting back up he looked at her "Okay, look. If you don't have anything then I'll take you out this Saturday to get something."

Hinata began to shake her head "I-I can't do that and I can…I can purchase my own dress…"

"I am well aware of that," Sasuke interrupted "However, I have never gone to a formal event wearing anything but the best and I refuse to allow my date to be below my own standards. So we're going to East Downtown, yes that really expensive place, wipe that look off your face, and I'm going to get you a dress and whatever accessories you need. Trust me; I am doing this mostly for myself and I have plenty of money."

His expression remained flat even while she looked at him as if he had sprouted a second head on his shoulders. Sasuke couldn't deny it, he was an elitist snob at times – all Uchiha were – and with her being a mother she would shop at mother's prices and he'd inwardly cringe the entire night every time he looked at her in her fancy-_looking_ but cheap dress. He'd probably even avoid her and pretend she wasn't his date; he was that serious about it.

"B-but I…" she continued to protest.

"Itachi would do the same thing," he remarked, knowing it was true. Itachi could be even worse than he was, he was just very, very good at hiding it "And I'm really _not_ taking 'No' for an answer." His tone held finality to it.

She still looked distressed "B-but Kenta…"

Oh right, the kid. Sasuke shrugged "Whatever, bring him along. I'm sure he'd love to see his mommy dressed up."

"A-are you sure?" She was wavering, a good sign.

"I wouldn't have offered otherwise."

Another one of those sighs "Well, I suppose if I'm not really being given a choice…I'll have to go."

"I'll pick you up at ten in the morning." He pulled out his card and a pen, writing his cell number on the back before handing it to her "That's my personal cell; call it if you need anything."

A very uncomfortable expression emerged "Um, won't your girlfriend…mind?"

_Huh? Oh, Sakura._ He shrugged "No, we don't even live together and I don't let her into my personal things."

He was actually lying. If a woman honestly did call his cell phone and she knew of it Sakura would flip. Having grown up with Sakura along with his best friend Naruto she knew firsthand how desirable he was to females and because of it was a very jealous person. It was a little infuriating, as it was somewhat an insult to his pride and honor as a man to know that his girlfriend didn't think he could keep it in his pants if ever another girl came around. Women would _say_ that wasn't it; that they didn't trust the female, but in the end if he willingly cheated on his girlfriend then she would consider him just as much of a bastard. Sakura, and women in general, going 'It's not you I'm worried about, it's them' really pissed him off because it was a goddamn lie and everyone knew it.

Which of course, was why he didn't allow her into his personal life. Although he never used it, Sasuke had a key to Sakura's apartment because she had given him one, but Sakura would _never_ get a key to his and she had asked more than once. A jealous woman was a woman you couldn't trust. Once they started digging into your shit and coming up with all sorts of ridiculous conclusions because they had an inferiority complex he wanted to just walk. It wasn't worth the headache and Sakura actually was more of a friend to him than anything else since they had grown up together. The only real reason they were 'together' was because she had asked and he hadn't seen a reason to say 'No'.

He almost asked Hinata if _her_ boyfriend would mind her carrying around another guy's number and then decided against it. He was almost one hundred and ten percent positive that this woman did _not_ have a boyfriend. The only 'male' in her life was her son, he'd bet a paycheck on it.

They finished the rest of their lunch and walked back to work in relative silence. Sasuke wasn't really looking forward to dealing with the kid on Saturday but he figured seeing Hinata in a form fitting dress would make up for it just a little bit. After that lunch they did not exchange too many words and only two e-mails had been sent between them and that was to confirm the time and date and give him her address. After entering in her house and getting directions, he realized that she actually was closer to East Downtown than he was; which meant that he wouldn't be going out of his way. Good.

xxxxx

As always, Sasuke was a little early. Besides the incident earlier that week, he was rarely ever late to anything he was to be present for. On Saturday his suspicions were confirmed about her not living in an apartment based off of the address she had given him. Hinata lived in a small two story house that had no yard to speak of and was in a quaint, quiet neighborhood. Middle class at best. He wondered why she lived so modestly when he was aware that Itachi was not stingy when it came to paying his higher ups and Hinata could definitely be considered as such. He was sure if she really wanted she could get a much larger house in a much nicer neighborhood. She didn't even have a car, or if she did it wasn't parked in the spot designated for her house.

Also, when he had first heard Hinata's last name it had struck a chord within him, so he looked it up. The Hyuuga owned a huge corporation, similar to the Uchiha's, and Hinata from what he had read in past articles had been from the main bloodline. So why the hell did she live like this? As a matter of fact, why had she even _needed_ to get a job in the first place? One would think the family would have stepped in.

_Even if I asked, she probably wouldn't tell me, so whatever._

Getting out of the car he walked up and rang the doorbell. There were some stomping noises and then the door slowly cracked open and pale silver eyes looked up at him.

And then the brat closed the door in his face.

Sasuke closed his eyes and counted to ten. _This is why I hate kids._

The Uchiha heard something along the lines of "Mom that really mean guy is at our door!" And he couldn't help but smile inwardly at the comment. It was one of the nicer insults he had received in his life he had to admit.

There was shuffling and then Hinata opened the door, her eyes wide with worry. "Oh gosh, he really did close the door in…Kenta, please apologize to Mr. Uchiha for closing the door in his face. That was very rude."

Her voice was quiet but left no room for argument. To his surprise, the boy looked up at him and muttered out an "I'm sorry, Mr. Uchiha." Before turning around to go inside to put on his shoes. And here he had thought that he was about to witness a tantrum.

She opened the door wider as if to invite him in, but he shook his head. The sooner they were done the better. "I'm really sorry for Kenta's behavior; he's usually not like that."

He shrugged "It's okay, I did kind of snap at the kid so I could understand him being upset."

"Well, it wasn't as if you had said anything wrong to him," she turned away from him to regard her son "Are you ready?"

With a nod the boy walked out of the door first, glaring at Sasuke the entire time. Of course, having a five year old stare at him wasn't something he could honestly take seriously but he managed to keep his expression neutral.

_Little brat reminds me of myself when I was a kid._

Even though he was only five, there was a sharp intelligence in his eyes that was clear to see. The child was observant and – thankfully – quiet, he realized. Once again the Uchiha found himself impressed with Hinata's child rearing abilities. Despite that first encounter the kid seemed to be very well behaved.

He regarded the mother as she closed and locked the door. She was wearing, once again, a long sleeved pale blue shirt and matching skirt that came down below her knees. _Could she look any more like a mom?_ He thought, mentally rolling his eyes. It was a good thing he had decided to do this because if that was what Hinata considered to be 'normal' wear he dreaded to see what she'd think was 'formal'.

_That decides it, I'm picking out dresses._ He mused.

Pushing a button the doors to his car automatically opened and Kenta, being the easily impressed five year old boy that he was, gasped and latched onto his mother's leg and Sasuke could hear a soft 'Cool car'.

_That's right, my car is awesome._

"My car is a two-seater," he explained to her "So you're going to have to sit him on your lap or something."

"Is…is that safe?" she asked, concerned for her son.

"I've never been in a car accident and I never will if I can help it." He remarked dryly as he walked over to the driver's seat "Trust me, I love this car more than I love a lot of things in life, I'm not getting her busted up. I'll keep the top up so don't worry."

Of course Hinata still didn't look convinced but she didn't very well want to tell him 'no' and despite the fact that Kenta was latched onto his mother his eyes were wide with excitement. With another one of those sighs he was starting to become increasingly annoyed with she pulled her son into the passenger's seat with her, strapping them both in. Once he was sure they were somewhat comfortable he started his car and in moments he was shifting gears as they hit the road.

While Sasuke hadn't been lying about not ever having been in a car accident, he purposefully 'forgot' to tell her that he drove fast as hell. Of course, he had brought a _fast_ car to go _fast_ so logically he should do the proper thing for his car and utilize her potential. He had known that if he had told her about his driving habits they would have been taking the damn train and he didn't want to do public transportation today. Taking public transit was a mood thing for him. He did take it easy, however, instead of going probably forty or fifty miles over the speed limit he did between ten to twenty, specifically on the highway. This made Hinata a little nervous but she didn't complain so he decided not to say anything to give her a reason to do so. She didn't even want to know what speed he usually did on the highways.

They got to East Downtown a little after ten forty five and the shops were just starting to open. He regarded mother and son, latter holding onto his mother's hand. "You guys eat yet?" Sasuke inquired.

"Um, we had a little bit to eat because I didn't want to impose anymore than I already am." Hinata told him and Sasuke sighed out loud.

"You're not impo - you know what? I'm not going to repeat myself." Looking around he spotted a soft pretzel stand and ordered himself a salted pretzel and flopped down on a bench to wait for the shops to really get things rolling. For some weird reason Hinata had put her kid between them and after a few bites he realized the kid was staring up at him.

_Why is he just looking at me?_ "Do you want a piece or something?" he offered the boy.

Apparently that had been the right question to ask, but the boy merely turned red and looked away, all of a sudden shy. Confused, Sasuke broke off a piece of his pretzel anyway and handed it to Kenta. The boy gave him a 'Really, I can have this?' sort of look that caught him off guard. This little boy really reminded him of when he had been little, and it didn't exactly bring warm and fuzzy feelings.

"Take it," he assured the boy "It's fine."

Almost timidly the boy reached over and took the piece from Sasuke's hands. Then he looked up at the man as if he had given him the holy grail and smiled "Th-thank you Mr. Uchiha." He said very politely and turned away, lightly munching on his piece of soft pretzel.

_This…this kid…_

When he finished the stores were all open and seemed situated, so he dragged the unwilling Hinata by the wrist into one of the fancier stores, looking around. Kenta, nervous around so many obviously nice things kept close to his mother, not wanting to touch anything. It was probably the first time he had ever met a 'non grabby' kid and every time Kenta did or said something Sasuke felt more and more strange around the boy.

Eventually they were approached and once the Uchiha name popped out the woman practically spilled all over herself trying to pick and choose the 'proper' dresses for Hinata to try on. Some the woman picked out Sasuke shook his head no to but eventually they picked out four really nice dresses and Hinata was ushered into a dressing room while Sasuke and Kenta sat on one of the chairs facing them. They boy sat with some sort of toy in his hands while his little legs kicked slowly. The Uchiha noticed that the boy kept sneaking glances at him but then looking away, shy.

_Well, he got over being mad at me real quick. Kid's easy to please I guess._

"Sup?" Sasuke said once when he caught Kenta giving him a quick glance. The boy jumped lightly but then shook his head furiously and went back to focusing on his toy. Looking at the boy close up he realized that besides the eyes being pale Kenta didn't look anything like Hinata although they were related. He had these spiky bangs that parted down the middle and his hair was cut short, a deep brown. His face wasn't shaped at all like Hinata's, he could tell the boy would end up with angular features, probably from his father. Looking at the boy he wondered how he had honestly believed this little boy was Hinata's biological child. He was a quiet, somewhat serious kid and for some reason he all of a sudden wanted to do something about it.

So he lifted a hand and set it on top of the boy's head. Letting out a little 'eep' Kenta looked up and then over at Sasuke who was giving him a blank expression. Then Sasuke ruffled the kid's hair, something that no one had ever really done with him as a child. Kenta laughed a little and clutched at Sasuke's arm, silver orbs warm.

"Hi, Mr. Uchiha." The boy said shyly while holding onto Sasuke's wrist.

"Call me Sasuke." He told the boy. When Kenta gave him an uncomfortable look he actually found himself smiling a bit "Mom told you never to address an adult by their first name huh?" Kenta nodded "Well, I'm telling you that you can call me by my name, so it'll be fine."

"Okay Mr. Sasuke!" the boy beamed at him.

Sasuke snorted "Close enough." Lifting his hand from the boy's head he sat back and looked at him "I'm sure sitting there looking at your toy isn't that much fun while waiting for your mom. Let's play a game while we wait." _Why am I doing this? I don't even really like this kid._

The boy's eyes widened so much Sasuke thought they'd pop out of his head. Then he flashed him another bright smile and nodded. "Okay. What sort of game?"

"Put your toy down and come stand in front of me." Obediently the boy hopped off the chair and put his action figure in his place, walking over to stand in front of Sasuke. "Put your hands out, like this." He showed Kenta his hands, palms down and the boy mimicked him. "Okay, the name of the game is probably something your mom will kill me for later but whatever. It's called Slaps and the point of the game is that you have to try and hit the other person's hand if you are on bottom," he placed his hands underneath the boy's, trying to ignore the massive difference in size "the person on top has to try and avoid being hit." He flipped his hands over and lightly tapped both of the boy's hands, to which the boy reacted by snapping his hands back with a wide grin "Like that. Let's try that again."

Sasuke played with the boy, letting him snatch his hands away at times but most of the time the boy would get light taps and he'd giggle or try hard not to exclaim in shock too loudly. Of course, the actual game was rougher than what he was employing but that hadn't been the point to begin with. Kenta was decent with hand-eye coordination and even though he was a child he was surprisingly fast, impressing the older male.

He didn't even care that Hinata had been in there for a while, as he normally would have if he had been sitting with anyone else. Sometimes when Kenta would win he'd look up at him with a huge triumphant grin on his face, his eyes bright. Sometimes when he lost he would stomp his feet a little bit and pout, to which Sasuke would ruffle the boy's hair and would tell him that he couldn't quit because 'real men aren't quitters'. At that statement the boy would immediately jump back into the game, wanting to show Sasuke he was a 'real man'.

It was amusing, entertaining, and he had to admit he was having fun with the little brat. Even when he had been young Itachi had ended up with so much on his plate that Sasuke had grown up with a family he was never around or saw. It wasn't as if Itachi hadn't tried to spend time with his little brother, simply that he couldn't with their father harping on him to continue to be 'the best'. Sakura and Naruto had eventually become his 'family' and to this day Sasuke was on strained terms with his parents and somewhat with Itachi. Moments like this had been few and far between for him and it was…different being the adult facing the child instead of the other way around. Not unpleasant, just different.

"U-um…I think I'm ready now," Hinata finally announced, pulling back the curtain shyly. "W-what do you think?"


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Okay, this cliffie wasn't as bad as the other one? Anyway, Enjoy, there'll be another update this Friday.

**Chapter Three**

xxxxx

"_U-um…I think I'm ready now," Hinata finally announced, pulling back the curtain shyly. "W-what do you think?"_

Kenta turned and Sasuke looked up as the brunette emerged – finally – from the changing room. Her hair was pulled up in a loose bun, showing off her neck a bit. The dress itself was cream colored which almost looked off with her too-white complexion. The dress itself was form fitting everywhere it needed to be, the neckline dipped giving it a rippling effect and stopped right at the top of her – quite ample, he realized – bust. The back also dipped in the same manner, although it was much lower, almost to the small of her back. It was sleeveless, only thin straps connecting the front and back together rested on her shoulders. At her hips the fabric bunched up along the seam, stopping at her upper thighs. The rest of the fabric dipped down a bit past her knees, rounded off. He blinked once after a pause.

"It looks nice on you." Sasuke remarked calmly. "The cream looks a little off though with your complexion." He tilted his head slightly "But it fits you well." _Understatement_.

"I like it mama!" Kenta announced loudly before remembering where he was and put his hands over his mouth "I think you look pretty." He said softer and his mother flushed.

"I-I'll try on the next one," she said softly and disappeared behind the curtain.

When Hinata had first asked him what he thought the first answer that popped into his mind had been extremely inappropriate so he had kept his mouth shut until his brain came up with something more suitable besides "You look really fuckable".

Was _that_ what she hid underneath the stiff business suit and mama's clothes? If so, he was going to have to find _some_ sort of way to get her to wear some more flattering suits or something because _damn._ Hinata had a body he could look at all day and never grow tired of, with all the right curves in the right places. Not that Sakura's body was flat or anything, it just wasn't…_that_. He supposed his preferences for curvier women emerged because all the girls who pursued him were too skinny and held no real figures. They would constantly try to diet so that they could impress him and all he really felt was that if he _did_ try to sleep with them he'd break them in half, they were so thin. Sakura was somewhere in the middle, not too skinny but not really curvy either. Honestly, he had no idea why Hinata was still single with her looks.

"Mr. Sasuke?" Kenta's voice broke him out of his thoughts "You look like you're thinking about something."

_I am. Your mother on my bed. Preferably naked and me doing some very bad things to her. Being in that outfit would be acceptable but totally not necessary._ It wasn't even possible to keep out the mental images that popped up after he had seen her in that dress. If it wasn't for the fact that he held no shame when it came to the inner workings of his mind he might have felt a little guilty. As it was, they were just thoughts, fantasies, so whatever.

Forcing himself to focus on the little boy he ruffled his hair again, to which Kenta laughed. "Nothing, I'm not thinking about anything." He lied. _Trust me kid, when you get older you'll be telling the same lies I am for the exact same reasons._ "Do you want to keep playing or do you give up?"

The boy shook his head and held his hands out "I wanna play." He said with determination and they continued where they had left off, trying to focus on the boy instead of the sudden thoughts that had emerged upon seeing the boy's mother.

The next outfit Hinata came out in was attractive, but not really what he would consider 'formal'. There was no back and the front was completely covered up to her neck. The dress was black and swished around her knees. It looked like a good dress to go out dancing with, but not for what they were going to be attending. Hinata agreed and went back into the dressing room and the two males continued their game.

The more time Sasuke spent around Hinata's son the more he began to like the kid. He wasn't really like any other child he had ever been around and whenever the little boy looked up at him or smiled at him as if Sasuke had become his world it did something weird to him. That didn't mean that he all of a sudden liked kids, he just liked _this_ particular child. He had finally admitted it to himself about five minutes ago and it didn't make him feel as idiotic as he should have felt.

The third dress Hinata came out with was a dark blue number that, when she moved just right, looked like dark water. The neckline was similar to the first dress except that it did reveal a bit of cleavage. The back didn't dip quite as far as the first dress had, stopping at the middle of her back. This dress had sleeves which was split open and had to be held together by tying two sets of strings, one on her upper arm and one at her forearm. It hugged her hips snugly and instead there was only one slit up along the thigh instead of both sides, the slit coming up just enough to reveal enough leg but not enough to be considered trashy. Also like the first dress the edges were rounded and stopped past mid calf. With her dark hair and pale eyes, the dress looked fantastic on her.

"Wow, mama you look so pretty, like the ocean!" Kenta said and Sasuke felt that pretty much summed it up for him as well in the most basic way possible.

"It looks really good on you," he remarked to her "If you don't like any of the other dresses after you try on the last one, I'd recommend picking that one."

Turning to inspect herself, she looked back up at the men "Are you sure?" She asked softly "I-I mean it d-does look nice but I don't know if I'm doing it any justice."

_Are you serious._ "Hinata." He began and she looked up at him in surprise. He had yet to call her by her first name. "If I say it looks good on you, then it looks good on you. If you want to continue to doubt me I'll cover Kenta's ears and express in detail to you_ exactly_ what I think of about you in that dress. Are we clear on that?" His face was perfectly blank and his voice sounded flat but serious.

Hinata's eyes widened and she let out a surprised gasp. Her face turning an amusing shade of red she rushed back into the dressing room.

Kenta looked at his mother as she fled and then at Sasuke. Then back at the curtain and then back at Sasuke "Um, why was mama so embarrassed by what you said Mr. Sasuke?"

The Uchiha motioned for Kenta to move back closer so they could continue their game "I'll tell you when you're older, kid." Inwardly, he frowned at himself. That had been the first time he had called the boy by his actual name and doing so had felt strange to him. Not a 'bad' sort of weird but not a 'good' sort of weird either. Calling Hyuuga by her first name had seemed to be a better choice since there was the boy around; this was different.

The final dress Sasuke told her to turn around and go back the moment she emerged. "Nevermind, I'm sorry I ever said that dress would be okay for you to try on. Please turn _back_ around and change." He had said.

While it had taken Hinata _forever_ to slide into the dresses it had only been minutes after she finally came out of the room with her normal clothes on, her hair still up in the loose bun. The sudden urge to walk over to her, pull her by her hips to him and nuzzle her neck hit him and he actually frowned in confusion. Imagining sex was one thing; simply holding her as if she were his girlfriend or something was _completely_ different and felt very awkward.

_Maybe Sakura is right, I haven't been over there in a while…I should visit her tonight._

He shook himself out of his uncomfortable line of thought and told the woman that they would be taking the blue dress. The matching heels were stiletto with a strap around the ankle. They would look amazing on her and show off her legs. A small purse completed the ensemble and Sasuke refused to allow Hinata to see how much the price came out to. The last thing he wanted was to start receiving personal checks from her trying to pay him back. For one, it would take her forever, Sasuke was _not_ a cheap date and two, he – deep down – actually was enjoying his time around her.

"Um, so," she began, holding onto her bags with one hand, the other hand holding Kenta's. Sasuke was looking around for a specific store when he heard her voice cut in "That should be it, right?"

"No," he said absently, only half paying attention. "We need to get you some jewelry."

"What?" Her exclamation had been loud enough for him to turn his full attention to her. "No…no I can't. Clothes are one thing, jewelry…"

"Are we really going to have to go through this again, Hinata?" he asked, sounding as exasperated with her as he felt. Things would go so much smoother if he didn't have to fight her at every turn. Why couldn't she be easy to deal with like her kid? "I'll only say this one more time, because I really do hate repeating myself; it is not a problem, I have the money, do not even worry about it, you owe me nothing. I'm doing this more for me anyway. I'm very picky about my dates when it comes to formal affairs. So really, just deal with it for now. After this I won't impose on you any more, alright?"

Hinata looked torn, as if she wasn't sure if she should feel guilty or upset. Tugging on her hand Kenta looked up at his mother.

"Mama," he began "Maybe Mr. Sasuke is getting you stuff because he wants to be friends and make up from when he yelled at you. When someone tries to be nice to you and you tell them "No" that's rude, they taught us that in school."

He loved this kid. Sasuke didn't know what exactly he wanted to do but he was going to get the kid some candy or ice cream or something as a little token of his appreciation. Hinata's expression melted as she looked down at her son and then she closed her eyes, shaking her head lightly. "Okay. B-but please just one thing…"

"I guess that's a good enough compromise." The Uchiha shrugged "Earrings would be best, I think. No one really notices bare wrists or fingers as much as they notice a lack of earrings, especially when your hair will probably be up." She nodded at the deal and then they headed for the escalator where he believed the store he was looking for would be. As they were walking he felt something tug lightly on his blazer and looking down he saw Kenta give him one of those conspirator grins. Sasuke gave him a small smile, ruffled his hair and then, to his complete and utter shock, held out his hand for the boy to take it. At first Kenta looked at his hand as if it were something alien about to attack him. Feeling a tad bit foolish he moved to drop his hand but the boy hurriedly latched on, looking down at the ground shyly. It was only when he looked straight ahead that he noticed Hinata look at them from the corner of his eyes and a small but sad smile touched her lips.

_Am I doing something wrong?_ Besides the fact that he was holding the hand of a child he barely even knew who was definitely _not_ of his loins felt kinda really weird he was kind of okay with it. It seemed like the more Sasuke interacted with him the more Kenta looked up at him in admiration. It was making the Uchiha _want_ to do things with Kenta, simply to see the boy beam up at him and be impressed. It was a childish feeling yet here he was, holding the boy's hand and the child looking as if this was the best day of his life. Maybe Hinata thought he was being too pushy? Well, if she wanted him to stop she'd say so.

The jewelry store they entered was one he frequented whenever he wanted to buy Sakura something pretty to show her that even though he couldn't always be around he did care if she was happy or not. Even though he wasn't really serious about Sakura in that way, she seemed serious about him and he didn't enjoy the fact that his time away from her put a strain on their relationship. Sometimes he wished she would just break up with him so they could go back to being friends. He wasn't about to break up with her, it was just easier for all involved to let the girl do the dumping.

"Hello Mr. Uchiha," his regular salesman walked up to them and Sasuke was glad he was on shift today. The man was very serious about his work and he didn't try to bullshit him just because he was a rich kid, so Sasuke respected him for it. A strange and confused expression came over his face when he looked at the trio "Ah, um…friends of yours?"

"Yeah, you could say that." He admitted and the man relaxed, glad he hadn't accidently insulted anyone.

"Well, we're glad to see you as always Mr. Uchiha. Are you here for the young lady and her little boy?" Motioning them forward he led them over to his usual workplace and they followed.

"Yeah, this is Hinata and that's Kenta. We're trying to get my friend Hinata here some earrings for a formal corporate dinner we're going to next Saturday." He gave the man the dress specifications to give him a better idea of what to look for.

"Hmm, perhaps something with a bit of dangle to it?" the man suggested and Sasuke nodded.

"Let's see what you got."

As they sat down in the chairs Kenta walked over to his side of the chair and rested his chin on the metal arm rest, not looking at him. Hinata leaned forward.

"Kenta, m-maybe you shouldn't impose on him, I don't think – "

Sasuke ruffled Kenta's hair and rested his hand on the boy's back "It's cool. I don't mind." Kenta stood up a little straighter and pressed his head against Sasuke's side. For some reason, it didn't annoy him like it normally would have with any other kid.

Hinata didn't protest it but once again he saw a sad expression appear before she glanced at the watch display in front of them.

The man returned with two sets of earring displays, briefly explaining some of his more personal choices and pointing out deals on others. Hinata's hand hovered just a bit over a set of rose shaped diamond earrings, three small chains of diamonds drifting down.

"If you like them, try them on." Sasuke offered but he was still looking at the displays. There was actually something that had just caught his eye and he had lost track of it so he was slightly distracted.

A mirror was placed in front of her and she slipped the earrings on, her face turning pink. "Th-they're pretty." It was said very softly, almost childlike. He briefly glanced up and gave a small nod.

"Yeah, they're pretty - there they are." Finding what he was looking for he turned to Hinata "Hey, doesn't your name mean like 'the sun' or something?"

She blinked at him twice in slight surprise "It means 'sunny place'." It was said as if she was truly surprised he actually knew the meaning behind her name.

"Right, I knew it was something like that." Gently he pulled out the earrings he had been looking for. They weren't as big as the rose earrings but he felt that they fit her perfectly. It was diamonds in the shape of the sun with small curvy waves with the dangling chains also curved as if the heat waves were moving down in a sparkling display. "Here, I saw them for a second and I thought of you instantly."

Removing the other earrings Hinata gently took the other ones, her face a deep red, and put them on. Sasuke wasn't really sure if she would like them or not, they weren't as flashy as the roses and the design was simple. Hinata sat at the mirror for a while, biting her lower lip as if actually afraid to say something.

_This woman…_ "Do you like them?" Hinata nodded "O-kay. Would you like to get those?" she nodded again and ducked her head, as if ashamed to admit that she had liked something he had specifically picked out for her. _Is she always this socially awkward to be around?_ "Okay, we'll take those. Just charge it to my account."

The man nodded "Yes, Mr. Uchiha. Would you like a special box for them?"

Sasuke shrugged "Sure, why not?"

Shortly after Hinata had another little bag in her hands to join the larger ones, her face still a bright red as she held onto her son's hand. Kenta kept giving his mother strange looks and there was a 'what's wrong with you?' feeling there.

_You'd think she had never even come from a rich family initially with the way she acts over material things._ Shaking his head mentally he looked down at the boy "Hey, don't you and your mother do things together on Saturdays?"

He pointedly ignored the surprised and slightly uncomfortable look she gave him while Kenta nodded.

"Oh yeah!" he exclaimed, loud now that they weren't in a store "We'd go to the park or walk around or go to a really awesome place to eat or there's this place where the entire room is built for kids to climb up and play in and sometimes, on really rare occasions, mama takes me to the amusement park!"

Kenta breathed after his long run on sentence and Sasuke inwardly smiled. The kid was quiet but it didn't mean he wasn't energetic.

"Well, I kind of stole your day away from you, is there someplace you'd like to go?"

"Sasuke, I don't think that –"

"Really Mr. Sasuke?" the boy's eyes lit up and widened with pure surprise "W-will you come with us?" he turned to Hinata "Mama, can Mr. Sasuke come with us today? Please?"

His mother tensed but gave her son a small smile before looking up at Sasuke "We've imposed on you so much already today and I –"

"I don't have anything to do," Sasuke cut in and then just because the kid was looking at him as if he was his new superhero he put a hand on his head. "And your kid is kind of cool. Where do you want to go? We can go wherever you want."

"The amusement park!" he chirped happily before looking back up to his mother "Is it okay mama? If not, it's okay, mama." He tugged at her hand "So don't look so sad mama."

Hinata blinked and looked down at Kenta with surprise "I…mama's not sad Kenta. If you really want to go to the amusement park and Mr. Sasuke is fine with it, we can go. Saturday we do whatever you want, remember?"

Her son nodded "And Sundays mama gets to rest before work." He tugged on her hand again "Is it really, really okay?"

She squeezed his hand "It's okay, Kenta." Hinata looked up at him and it was a bittersweet look. She did seem happy that Kenta was happy and having fun, but there was a sadness there and he almost changed his mind right there. Of course, he couldn't now that they were fine with it and he had made the promise, so he reached out and took Kenta's hand.

"C'mon, we'll go there for a little while and you can ride whatever you mom lets you."

The child looked as if he were about to explode with happiness and as they walked out to the car the boy was swinging their arms and humming a little tune to himself.

Sasuke didn't know why but looking at Hinata's son like that made him feel nostalgic. There was the sensation that he had missed something in his life and there was even a little bit of envy towards the boy that he didn't quite understand.

The amusement park was on the other side of the downtown area so it wasn't that far of a drive. The moment they got out of the car and started walking the boy took off running until Hinata called out to him. He walked backwards to them and then when he was still ahead of them yet not too far he continued happily onward.

"Can I go to the teacups first?" He asked his mother once they were inside "I really like those mama."

Hinata nodded "Yes, there's one over for kids like you that you can ride on. Kenta made a small noise and pouted slightly "I'm sorry honey but they want you to be a certain height for the adult rides."

"But I'm growing!" he protested "I've grown two centimeters since last week!"

"Yes, and you were also standing on your tip toes." His mother said with a smile "You'll just have to wait a little longer Kenta. I promise the day you can ride on them I'll let you ride as much as you like."

This was enough to appease the child, since he probably felt that maybe in another month or so he'd spontaneously grow the several inches he needed before he could ride the adult rides. He took off running, waving at them.

"Mama, Mr. Sasuke!" he called "Watch me, you gotta watch!"

"Sasuke," her voice was soft beside him as they closed the distance to the smaller teacups "I…thank you so much for being so kind to Kenta. I-I didn't really w-want to impose because I had heard that you um, didn't like children."

"Huh." He scratched the back of his head "I don't like kids. In fact, I kind of hate them." Hinata made a little noise and he continued before she could say anything "But I like your kid. I don't know why, maybe it's because he reminds me of myself when I was a kid or something, but I don't mind him at all."

"W-well, this is the happiest I've ever seen him so…" her gaze drifted down, her hands gripping the metal divider. He couldn't tell but it seemed as if she was on the verge of tears.

_Oh shit._ "Hinata? What's up? Look, I wasn't trying to be pushy or anything – "

She shook her head "N-no, it's not…it's not that." Looking up she closed her eyes and sighed before settling her gaze straight ahead again "I know why Kenta is so happy, and it makes me happy but…I-I feel like m-maybe I'm a b-bad mother…I've n-never seen him…"

_Fuck. I have no idea what I'm going to do if she starts crying._ "He's a boy right?" she nodded "Well, he's had his mother around for as long as he can remember but boys eventually get to a point where they want to be boys and well, you're not exactly what I'd consider a male."

Giggling slightly, she looked up at him "I know. I know why he's so happy. I suppose I'm just being emotional about it. But that's…that's also the problem, Sasuke. I never dated or allowed any man in the house because I didn't want him to become confused if I had a lot of men coming in and out, where he'd get attached and then they would leave. I've told him so much about his real parents, about his father, but it's not the same as having a father. I see the looks he gives other boys when their fathers come and pick them up from baseball or soccer practice. I see the looks he gives when he sees a father and son walking around or playing or…and I can't give him that." She looked up at him "And after this, you won't see Kenta again and I know eventually it's going to hurt him. I-I mean this entire thing i-is because of the dinner. S-so…"

He didn't know what to say to that so he remained silent. Itachi had somewhat been a father figure to him, more than his dad anyway, but even his big brother hadn't been around much. The things he had done with Hinata's son were things he had wanted as a child, so he could relate to the boy's feelings. He had also been that kid that looked at all the happy father-son individuals and wondered why he couldn't have that. Looking at Hinata's son had reminded him of himself and he had found himself wanting to make the boy happy, to suddenly give the kid what he deserved.

But Hinata was absolutely right. Despite what Kenta believed, the two of them weren't friends, they weren't even really associates. They hadn't spoken a word to each other after the initial lunch and once the only tie between them severed there would be absolutely no reason for him to be around that boy. He didn't blame Hinata for keeping guys away, she was probably waiting on someone serious to come along so Kenta wouldn't have to be disappointed every time a boyfriend of hers didn't work out even though _they_ had gotten along. Trying to start hanging around Hinata for her kid sounded terribly and horribly wrong to him. Besides that, he would drive home tonight, wonder what the fuck he had been thinking entertaining a kid and brush it off as him just having a weak moment. Not that he felt that way, he really didn't; Sasuke _liked_ this little boy for reasons he didn't fully understand.

_But you can't have one without the other._ He mused. He had Sakura, who he was not going to break up with, and she would never _ever_ approve of him going to the house of a single woman to hang out with her kid.

"I'm sorry Hinata." He said and he actually meant the apology "It's just I know how the kid feels, I guess. Dad was always gone, absorbed in work and Itachi was his protégé so after a while he disappeared too. I got carried away."

He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and noticed Hinata's hand rise and move toward his arm before pausing and retracting, her expression sullen.

"Well, even if Kenta never sees you again, I think he'll remember this day for a long time so…thank you."

"Yeah."

Neither adult rode on any rides, they were there for the boy in any case. After he was tired out on rides they brought him a bag of blue cotton candy and had been munching on it before he fell asleep on Sasuke's back, since he had decided to carry him. Hinata took the bag from him and they walked in silence that was between peaceful and tense. Kenta only stirred when Hinata took him as they got into the car and once more when they arrived back at her quaint little home."

"W-would you like to come in f-for some coffee?" she offered.

_I should go home, that's what I should do._ "Yeah, I'll get your stuff." Once inside he sat the bags down and looked around. The entire house smelled like lavender fabric softener which was interesting. There was a long table littered with picture frames and he noticed a small sign that said 'Kenta's Room' straight ahead. "Hey," he called when she began to head to her son's room "Go take your stuff upstairs. I'll get him in bed."

"Are you…are you sure?"

Feeling all out of sorts and completely strange he shrugged "Yeah, give him here."

His room was a little messy, littered with action figures in sporadic areas and a set of blocks off to the side. He had a rather tall bookshelf full of books and Sasuke had the suspicion that either Kenta knew how to read those books or he already had. Probably both. With a few questions to the sleepy boy he found out where his pajamas were and changed him before putting him in his bed.

"Mr. Sasuke," he said with a small yawn "Thank you for being so nice to me and mama."

He put a hand on the boy's head "Sure, kid. Get some sleep."

On the far wall he noticed a picture hanging up on the wall. Curious, he walked over. The light from outside the room gave him enough light to see three individuals. One he knew immediately to be Hinata although she looked a lot younger, around eighteen or so. She was clinging onto the arm of a very stoic looking male with eyes that looked exactly like Kenta's. He wasn't smiling but you could tell that he was at least relaxed and happy. Beside him was another girl with bangs similar to Kenta's and – he thought – brown hair tied into two neat buns. In her arms was a small bundle and she was leaning against the man, his arm around her shoulders. There was no mistaking it, those two in the picture was the boy's parents, he looked so much like his biological father it was like seeing an adult version of the boy with his mother's hair. They all looked young, too young to be having a kid. And in the end Hinata ended up with the boy and suddenly he felt something tight in his chest and he had to turn away right as Hinata entered the room.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** SasuSaku citrus, SasuHina fluff, stuff like that.

**Chapter Four**

xxxxx

The smile on her face was a mixture of sad yet warm as she entered the room and walked over to the picture he had been staring at. Her hand reached out and fingertips brushed along the image of her cousin and his lover.

"That's Neji, my cousin," she explained "And that was his fiancé, Tenten. She ended up getting pregnant with Kenta their senior year of high school, I was a junior then. They decided they would keep the baby, get married and try to start a life together. They had known each other for years, we all grew up together." Her hand settled down back to her side as her other hand wiped away at a tear "I-I'm sorry. I know it's silly to be so emotional about it after five years."

Looking at the picture again, Sasuke remained silent, lost in his thoughts. Hinata went to check on Kenta and folded the clothes Sasuke had laid on the bed and placed them in the boy's hamper before leading her guest out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. Mind still wandering, Sasuke walked over to the table with all the pictures and lifted up one of just Neji, Tenten, and little Kenta. Once again there wasn't much expression on the man's face but Sasuke, being a practitioner of stoic expressions could see that man had loved them.

"Why didn't the Hyuuga's take him in?" Sasuke suddenly found himself asking "Didn't you use to be the heir? And your cousin, I think I remember him being considered for a few positions in your company. Why did they let an eighteen year old take care of a baby by herself?" While he didn't like kids, he found the thought a little confusing and infuriating. What kind of family let a kid take care of a kid? Especially when it isn't even theirs.

Hinata's face shadowed over and she sighed, shaking her head "Neji and Tenten's relationship hadn't been approved by the family, in fact, Neji was actually slated in an arranged marriage to another girl, the daughter of a major hotel franchise. The one thing I can say about my cousin is that he was very serious about the things he believed in, but he was also loyal to the family. When it was discovered that Tenten was pregnant and it was his, my father ordered Neji to convince Tenten to get an abortion. Neji refused. Not only did he refuse that, but he informed my father that he was going to take Tenten and his child, marry Tenten after graduation and they would try to start a life together." As if frustrated, Hinata put her hands through her hair "Father disowned Neji and because the baby was born before they were wed he refused to have anything to do with a 'bastard' child. My father had been so frustrated and furious, he and Neji had been close ever since his own father had died, and I think father felt that Neji had betrayed him somehow."

"So the Hyuuga's weren't going to take the kid in because they didn't want to deal with the scandal." It wasn't really a question because he knew he was right. It was also typical. Image was everything in the corporate world; any 'rich kid' knew it. The more famous and powerful you were the more you had to struggle to keep your name clean.

She nodded "Y-yes."

"That doesn't explain how you became his legal guardian at _eighteen_." He snapped the last word, feeling a little disgusted with Hinata's family at the moment. Sometimes family was more important than image, at least he felt that way.

"W-well, Neji and Tenten, they passed away by car accident…" her gaze lowered "A drunk driver. They were actually on their way to the city that Neji had found a job at. Kenta was in the car and he was the only one who survived."

There was stunned silence "I'm sorry," he said, apologizing for the third time this year, although he didn't really give a damn about his record anymore. This was just some messed up shit to him, a situation that you read in books because who the hell really abandons a _baby _because of something like a scandal?

"Um, it's okay, but thank you." Her arms wrapped around her middle "Neji and Tenten had asked me to be the godmother when Kenta was born and I agreed. Since I was eighteen and legally an adult, social services said they would allow me to keep him _if_ I could prove that I could support him at my age. Of course, they didn't think it would be a problem for an heiress to a major company so they were more than willing to accept. When the family found out I was given two choices. One, I could let Kenta be adopted out, or two, I could take the baby but I'd be disowned and hold no further connections to my family."

"Are you serious?" He couldn't even believe what he was hearing "They really went that far with it?"

A small, sad smile "I chose to keep Kenta and I was told to leave. Immediately. By then I had already finalized everything, I never had any intentions of allowing Kenta to be adopted out. Neji and Tenten wouldn't have wanted that, why else name me the godmother? The only thing that saved me until your brother hired me was the fact that I had never touched my personal account growing up and so I had a large sum of money that they thankfully never touched. I was cut off from all the other accounts. So for the first year or so Kenta and I lived in a very tiny apartment and eventually when Mr. Uchiha gave me my first raise I had continued to save money and I was able to get this house." Hinata looked up at him "I was terrified at first, I didn't know anything about taking care of a baby and while I did have clerical experience working at my father's office as an intern during the summers I had had no formal training. I shouldn't have even been hired in the first place. I think he did it because either he knew about my situation or it was just because I was a Hyuuga. Regardless, I've done my best to keep him from regretting hiring me."

"…Hinata,"

"I know he's…not really my son." She said softly "He looks so much like them. But I've raised him since he was a baby and I love him as I would love any child I actually have. He's technically my nephew but when I look at him I see my _son_ and I don't regret anything I've done."

Listening to Hinata's story and learning everything surrounding Kenta and his parents at first made him angry, at the family mostly. He had somewhat admired her for being a single mom because he never would have taken care of a brat himself but if he had been in Hinata's situation, would he had turned away his brother's child? Even if it left him without everything he loved and took for granted? Hinata had sacrificed _everything_ for that little boy and never looked back on her privileged life. It kind of made him feel a little ashamed of himself. It wasn't as if he suddenly liked kids or anything, or that he wanted to go out and be a good dad to replace the one he never had, but the question of 'If it had been me, would I have done it?' really actually affected him, where before he had brushed it off and believed he would have given the kid up.

If he was completely honest with himself, he probably would have given the kid away, believing that he'd go to a good home. Like a pet or something. He didn't think he would have had the balls to do what Hinata had done; he enjoyed his spoiled rich life too much. And with that thought he felt like a really shitty person, because he really wasn't any better than Hinata's family, if one thought about it.

As for Itachi, Sasuke believed that the fact that she was a Hyuuga was exactly the reason she had been hired. The Uchiha and Hyuuga were rival companies at best, if Itachi could take their disowned heiress and turn her into a strong executive figure in _his_ company, it was like a slap in the face to the Hyuuga. At least, he was sure that was what Itachi was thinking at first. He probably hadn't expected Hinata to do so well and exceed his expectations. The only reason Hinata probably wasn't an executive herself was because Itachi was – obviously – so dependent on her he probably was too wary to suggest such a thing. Now he would never ask her, because it was obvious Hinata loved her son too much to take on such a time consuming job like an executive of a major corporation. She was happy as his secretary, _he_ was happy with her as his secretary.

"It looks like Kenta is pretty convinced that you're his mother." He offered weakly, "Even if he wants a father figure in his life, he seems to love you a lot."

She wiped at her face a bit and gave him a shaky smile and a nod "Even though I've told him about his real parents countless times he still calls me mother. I think it's hard for him to accept that I'm not really his mother because his real parents aren't with us anymore. He's a little boy and all he can react to is what he sees and interacts with. All he's seen is me." She put a hand through her hair before pausing. Her eyes widened "O-oh, I've completely forgotten about the coffee. Um, if you give me just a moment I'll have it ready –"

"Don't bother," he said, his voice low "I should go anyway. It's late. Thanks for inviting me in."

"Oh no, it's the least I can do –" she seemed to be looking around for something. When she couldn't find it she made a little huffing sound "Um, I'll walk you to the door."

When she opened the door for him he turned to her. The loose bun her hair had been in most of the day had been let down, long hair and bangs coming down to frame her soft face. Her face was red from the little bit of crying she had done, or had tried to keep at bay and her eyes were warm. She smiled at him.

Raising his hand, his face completely blank, he cupped her cheek and then moved along her hair, pushing some back behind her ear. Hinata's eyes widened in surprise and the heat around her face began to spread. A look of confusion emerged. "Sasuke?" she asked, as if trying to confirm if he really was standing in front of her brushing back her hair.

Taking a step forward he felt his other arm move around her waist and pulled her flush against his body. There was another gasp and she almost, _almost_ tried to move away in shock. It finally registered to him what he was doing right as his lips hovered above hers and he froze, his entire body and his mind froze.

_What…what the fuck am I doing?_

Abruptly, he let her go and took two steps back, the cool air from outside hitting him. They stared at each other in stunned silence for a while before he finally gained his composure and turned away.

"I'll see you Monday." His steps were slightly hurried as he got into his car and sped away.

_What just happened there?_ He thought, putting a frustrated hand through his thick hair _What happened? Why did I almost do that?_

It wasn't as if he didn't find Hinata attractive, but he found a lot of women attractive because, well, he was a guy and he just noticed things like that. Something happened tonight, something that completely screwed him up to the point where he had actually almost kissed a woman he couldn't have and cheated on the woman he was with. He felt even more disgusted with himself for his behavior; the rumors could fly all they wanted but Sasuke made it a point to not fool around when he was with someone and he had been pretty damn proud of that fact. In three years not once had something like that ever happened to him. Even when he and Sakura had been in their 'off' stages he hadn't really felt the urge to go out and find a girl. Mostly he was just too busy, a lot of it was he couldn't be bothered. So what. The Hell. Happened.

_I just got emotional over her kid and her story, that's all._ He eventually reasoned as he got off the exit to his girlfriend's apartment _I was feeling nostalgic and sentimental and I almost did something really stupid. Maybe I'm even hard up, it's been two weeks since I've actually spent time with Sakura and she has been complaining._

Sasuke still felt disoriented and ten times of screwed up when he walked up the steps to his girlfriend's apartment and knocked on the door. He never did use the key although Sakura had always complained in the beginning that he should since that was why she had given it to him in the first place. It was damn near eleven thirty but he didn't care right now.

"Who the hell –" Sakura's eyes widened when she opened the door and saw him "Sasuke? What are you -?"

Bursting into the apartment he slammed the door shut behind him as he grabbed her, pulling her in for a hard kiss. At first she was startled and tried to break them apart, probably to ask him what was wrong with him all of a sudden, but then his hands started lingering in all the right places and she stopped fighting and decided to just go with it. When he began to move towards the bedroom she hopped up, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"S-Sasuke, what?" she began finally when he had started kissing along her neck "What -?"

"Not now." His voice was hard as he closed the door to her bedroom. Sasuke was hard and rough with her the first time, a lot of it having to do with the anger and frustration he felt, as if he _needed_ to screw his girlfriend to prove to himself that he didn't _need_ to be thinking or trying to mess around with another woman. The second time he had been his normal self, except something was off. It wasn't that the sex had been bad but it had felt as if his body hadn't wanted to respond properly. When he finally did climax it had felt…subpar? _Is that even possible?_ And he knew that something was really, really off with him. When he had gone to wash up in her bathroom his mind suddenly trailed back to earlier that day, watching Hinata as she tried on those dresses, remembering how the cream one had looked really hot on her even though the color was a little off. He had still been thinking about it when Sakura giggled at him from the bed.

"Wow, that was fast." She remarked, pointing down at his crotch. "It's only been like, five minutes."

Five minutes and he was a hard as a rock due to thoughts about her.

_This isn't right._ He mused, sitting on the bed and putting his hands through his hair. He ignored Sakura's touch and her inquiry as to whether or not he was okay.

So he did think about other women, and he even thought about having sex with other women, but never while with his girlfriend and his attentions was always focused on her whenever they slept together. Thoughts and fantasies were just that, guilty pleasures to entertain from time to time but never be serious about. When it came down to Sakura he focused _on_ Sakura, because she was his girlfriend and he had sworn that he'd never be 'that guy'; the guy who for some reason has a steady relationship but sleeps around. That had never made sense to him, why even bother with the relationship in the first place?

He must have looked really pensive because eventually Sakura had dipped her head to look at him, her hands framing his face as she lifted his head up to look at her.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" she asked, her green eyes worried, concerned.

It made him feel like a dick, as if he had actually cheated on her. Sakura didn't deserve that kind of guy, especially not from someone who used to be her best friend.

"Just a stressful day concerning that client. They brought their kid." It was a lie and yet it wasn't.

His girlfriend kissed him, a small smile playing on her lips "I'm sorry, Sasuke, I know how much you hate kids. I bet it was hell."

It hadn't been until he had dropped Hinata off at her house. "I'll get over it."

Kissing him again, her mouth moved over his neck "Here, how about I relieve some of that tension for you." When she took him in her mouth it had started out feeling good as it always did, but then like before something began to feel off. Putting his hand through her hair he looked down at her, eyes heavy lidded. Then Sakura made a soft noise and the first thought that came into his head had been her with her soft voice and gentle smiles. Then all of a sudden her hair was no longer pink but purple and her eyes were no longer green but a pale lavender and the thought of her sucking on his cock made him come hard and fast, his head dipping back, his hand gripping in her hair and a soft cry on his lips. He laid back on the bed, his breathing uneven, guilt riding him hard when he realized that what had been off was the fact that he had been with Sakura but he _wanted_ her and he felt like a really horrible fucking person. He had never, _never_ thought of another woman like that with Sakura and it was starting to piss him off that this woman he barely even knew was affecting him this much.

Just imagining Sakura as Hinata felt like cheating and was really messed up. Putting his hands through his hair again he felt her familiar weight on top of him and she bent over and kissed him lightly on the lips before trailing along his neck.

"Wow, I haven't heard you sound like that in a while," she remarked and it did nothing, _nothing_ to make him feel better. "I guess you really are stressed out. It has been a while though." Sliding off of him she snuggled at his side instead and he automatically put his arm around her as he stared blankly at her ceiling fan wondering how the hell this had happened and what was he going to do about it. He wasn't going to leave Sakura for another woman; he _wasn't_, even if he didn't honestly love her, even if he did just want to be friends. The fact that they had been friends was the very reason he couldn't do it; no one should screw over a friend like that and he'd known Sakura for a long time, she and Naruto had pretty much been his only family after a while. First and foremost, Sakura was his best friend and he wasn't going to screw her over like that.

_This was probably just a one time thing; you'll get over it within a day or two. You will go to that dinner on Saturday with her and then you will cut her the fuck out of your life. Immediately._

He hated it, mostly because it meant he also would never see Kenta again and he really, really liked that kid. It wasn't something he could explain, it was just a feeling. Either way, that was the way it had to be, he would not allow himself to do something as stupid as he had almost done tonight.

Since he didn't have work on Sunday, Sakura suggested that they go to the beach. It was getting close to summer after all. Briefly, he contemplated going and getting his surfboard but then decided against it, just wanting to spend the day with his girlfriend and trying to relax his mind from all the turbulent thoughts running around.

It felt good to have the window down as his car ate up miles at an alarming speed. Driving his car had a way of making him feel better where other things wouldn't.

"What's this?" Sakura wiggled in her seat. Reaching back she pulled out an action figure "What the hell?" she laughed "Did the kid leave this in here?"

Giving the toy a brief glance he shrugged "Yeah, I guess he did. Just put it in my glove compartment, I'll give it to the client next time I see them. Maybe it'll help me close the deal or something."

Laughing, she did as requested "It's so weird finding a _toy_ in your car. I mean, this is _you_ we're talking about here."

Why did that somehow irritate him? "The kid was alright," he admitted "I didn't mind him."

"What?" Sakura's eyes widened as she turned to face him, keeping a hand in her hair so it wouldn't fly in her face "Is this my boyfriend speaking? You, Sasuke Uchiha, hater of all that is tiny, cute, and small was actually around a child and didn't _mind_ it? I think the world is going to end."

"You know, you've been talking about us having kids some day or whatever so you'd think you'd be happy about it." He growled, annoyed. It was one thing for him to think of himself as that; it was another when someone called it out. It made him sound like he kicked puppies, drowned kittens, and curb stomped infants for shits and giggles or something. He actually felt his hand gripping the steering wheel tighter to keep himself from snapping at his girlfriend, who really wasn't saying or doing anything out of the ordinary.

"Well," she began, leaning back in her seat "We're still pretty young, I always figured that around thirty you wouldn't care or you'd just try to pawn him off to a caretaker if I wasn't around. I mean really Sasuke, I love you but I could never imagine you as a father. 'Sasuke' and 'father' don't even belong in the same sentence together."

Sasuke didn't say anything and she took it as him dropping it and leaned her head back to let the wind blow through her hair. He thought about Sakura's words and about his own life, how he had been pawned off to caretakers until he had found his friends and spent all of his time with them. He remembered how much it hurt when his dad would actually be home for once and was so busy he couldn't even say 'hello' to his kid. He wasn't even sure if he had ever heard his father say anything beyond "I'm busy, come back later" or some other variation of "Go away". If he actually did spawn a child, which he really didn't want to do, he wouldn't just dump the kid off. It wasn't easy to lead a company and be a father, but it wasn't _impossible_ either. Itachi, despite his busy schedule, had taken time out to spend it with his little brother; they still actually met once a month for dinner and just to chat. His father just hadn't wanted to try with him and he had hated it as a kid.

His simple solution to not dealing with children had been to never have children and it had always made him feel very uneasy whenever Sakura brought the subject up. He still felt uncomfortable but for different reasons and it was frustrating.

The Uchiha tried not to think about it as he spent the day with his girlfriend at the beach. She had brought a picnic basket and for lunch they had eaten some sandwiches and a bit of fruit. He rubbed Sakura down with tanning lotion along her back and legs, he went out and swam for a while and then when it began to get late they packed up and left.

When they arrived back at her apartment he pulled her into the bathroom and they had a longer than necessary shower. Sakura had joked, as she always did, about how funny it was that he always brought a condom whenever they took a shower together and he, as usual, shrugged it off. Sakura was on birth control but he didn't want any 'accidents'.

He decided to take her out to one of their favorite restaurants so they both dressed up – Sasuke had some of his clothes over at her place – and went out to have a nice dinner with live music. Because they both were quite good at it, they even danced a little before heading back. They messed around a few more times before he looked up at his watch and frowned at the time. Shifting, Sakura put a hand on his shoulder.

"You can't stay here again?" she asked, sounding a little put out. "I'm not going to get to see you again until next Sunday. With your promotion we're going to have even less time together."

"No, I should go home and get everything ready, all of my work is at my apartment." He put an arm around her "I promise we'll do something really nice on Sunday to make up for Saturday. You're right, I haven't been around much, I'm going to try a little harder to be here."

She happily kissed him "Are you serious? You really mean it?" when he nodded she trailed kisses down his shoulder "Alright then, hearing that makes it worth it to wait until Sunday." A small sigh "I love you, Sasuke."

He didn't respond and she knew he wouldn't, because he would never tell her something he didn't feel and he wasn't in love with her. He wondered if it hurt her every time he was silent and if so, why she kept doing it. Hope that one day he would tell her what she wanted to hear?

As much as he cared about Sakura and enjoyed being with her, he didn't understand why she was still with him and it made him feel more than a little crappy when a small part of him wished that she would break up with him. If he were single he could actually pursue Hinata and actually be a part of Kenta's life. It was a horrible thought and so he shoved it out of his mind and thought nothing more about it until he saw her again at the dinner party.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:** I will also be uploading chapter six today, I won't tell you why you'll just have to read it.

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**Chapter Five**

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Even though Sasuke was her 'corporate' date and he had offered to pick her up she had declined, wanting to take public transportation since she was bringing along her son. He suppose he couldn't really blame her, it wasn't safe to have a five year old sitting on someone's lap in a car that probably would crush the child upon impact with _anything_. They decided that they would meet at the bus stop by the conference hall they were attending. As usual, he was early, ten minutes to be exact, and ended up having to wait in his expensive suit feeling a little silly because he looked like he was waiting to ride the bus.

_Like anyone in this suit would ride the bus. This suit probably costs more than half of these people's rent._ Sasuke mused with a mental smirk. The week had actually been good to him. Itachi introduced him to the board and they all chatted, most of them he already knew, some of them he hadn't. His brother went over with him exactly what he expected from his little brother and did a recap of the more important issues they were currently focusing on and allowing him to throw in his input, if he so desired.

The next day Itachi had taken him to Suna Industrials to meet with the president. From what Sasuke learned, they were working on a huge business deal but there were still some details to sort through. He was surprised when he saw who the president was, the man had been a little shorter than him but with bright red hair and he looked no older than Sasuke himself. Not that it was surprising to see such a young president; Itachi had worked his way from the bottom of the corporation to executive within a year and vice president within the two year mark. Five years later their father had stepped down and Itachi had held the reigns ever since. Of course now his brother wasn't so young anymore, he was in his thirties, but still it meant that this guy, Gaara, was impressive.

Standing back and watching the two discuss the details of the product they were doing a joint venture for he got to see just how intelligent their president actually was. Like Itachi, Gaara was calm and composed, although he didn't seem to have the sly sense of humor his brother employed from time to time. The man was dead serious about everything and Sasuke didn't think the man had blinked anymore than three times the entire time they had been there. Despite the heavy seriousness surrounding the man he had been cordial and very polite, which had been a little disarming.

All in all, he had been pretty impressed. Itachi had asked him on the ride back if he felt envious or angry that the president of Suna Industrials was the same age as him yet he was below Gaara on the corporate ladder.

"No," Sasuke had answered "To be honest, I'm perfectly content with you running things as long as you want. If you had asked me that five years ago I might have felt differently." Five years ago, when he had first joined, he had been angry and frustrated at the fact that his brother seemed so untouchable, so powerful. He had resented it, especially when he had been younger, because his brother had always been praised as the genius and he, the second son, was just there. Then as the years went on and he rose up the ladder he began to feel more and more like actually running the place would be more of a pain in the ass than it would be worth. As a bachelor he somewhat liked his free time, he had no idea how his brother did it. Then again, his brother had never married and as far as Sasuke knew hadn't even had a steady girlfriend in almost ten years. Itachi did not have a social life, his job _was_ his life and Sasuke didn't want that for himself. Furthermore, even though his family had never praised him as a genius he had actually done better in a few academic areas during school than Itachi had and his memory was better – if the fact that he depended on his secretary as much as he did was true. Growing up he had been considered a genius to everyone but his family, so eventually he had said 'screw them' and shrugged off all of his resentment and frustration and just focused on being himself and having the luxury to enjoy his life the way he wanted, unlike Itachi.

There had been one thing he had wanted to know, and he did ask it during the ride back.

"Do you have a thing for your secretary?" Sasuke had asked his brother.

There had been a small silence and then a small chuckle "What do you think, little brother?"

"I think if nothing else you wouldn't mind her underneath your bed sheets once or twice." He had been honest with himself; he had felt from the beginning that she would have been hot enough to sleep with, had he truly been single. Itachi flirted too much with Hinata for Sasuke to believe it was strictly platonic.

Itachi had given him one of his enigmatic smiles. "I don't mix business with pleasure, Sasuke." Which was all he had said on the matter. However, being Itachi's little brother, he knew that when Itachi avoided directly answering a question it meant more than likely the truth wasn't something he wanted to openly reveal, but he wouldn't outright lie either. Itachi rarely lied.

So the answer to the question was yes, Itachi had a thing for his secretary and no, he had absolutely no intentions of doing anything about it. Ever. It probably wasn't even anything that serious, considering that it was his brother he was talking about. Regardless, it had been an interesting conversation between the two brothers who normally were never really social with each other.

_Finally!_ He could see the bus coming over the hill and he stood back a few steps, not wanting to mingle with the bus line. Hinata was one of the first ones off the bus, Kenta holding her hand. She had actually dressed him up although it looked more of a casual thing than formal. Not that it mattered, but it was cute that she had done it anyway.

"Mr. Sasuke!" Kenta cried upon seeing him and when he ran over, Sasuke actually picked the five year old up and placed him on his hip, to which the little boy tried his hardest to put his arms around him. "It's really nice to meet you again!" Kenta said loudly but as politely as he could. "Mama said that that I have to be on my best behavior so I promised."

A rather…random statement considering he hadn't even said anything to the boy but he figured the kid was five and his thoughts ran way faster than his probably did. Hinata wobbled a bit as she tried to move faster than a walk in heels she was not used to moving around with.

"Kenta, p-please don't…Mr. Sasuke's suit is…"

Walking over he held out an arm to steady his date "I don't care," he responded honestly "I was the one who picked him up."

The fact that he didn't care that a five year old was hanging onto probably one of the most expensive suits he had ever purchased was a little disarming to him but he decided to ignore it at this point. It wasn't like the kid could do any real damage anyway.

However, he didn't want to make Hinata too uncomfortable – more than she already was from the way she was looking at him – so he set the little boy down and lightly ruffled his hair, to which he giggled.

His mother took the boy's hand and said nothing when her son reached out for Sasuke's hand and he took it, giving the boy a small smile. It probably did look strange, a fancy couple walking their little boy as if they were taking a stroll down a park. Then the fact that people would even have that image made him feel uncomfortable because Kenta _wasn't_ his kid, never would be, but he actually wanted to be a part of the boy's life. Maybe not in a fatherly way, but more like a big brother. He didn't feel it would make much difference than the life he had had with Itachi.

Glancing at Hinata he felt himself school his expression into a mask of neutrality. Having avoided her the entire week had helped considerably with the way he had felt last Saturday. But looking at her now, with her hair done up rather beautifully, that dark blue dress on that looked like water rippling in the dark, those earrings he brought her and really looking at her face, all of those mixed feelings returned and he was at a loss of what to do. She looked beautiful with her pale skin, dark hair and lavender eyes. And the way those heels made her legs look…

_Stop being an asshole. Remember you have a girlfriend._

Mentally frowning he forced himself to not think about all those conflicting emotions and feelings he had whenever he looked at her and decided to focus on the things he was going to say to all of the clients he would meet tonight.

Kenta was disappointed when he had to leave the two of them behind but he promised the boy that he would see him again since he would be bringing them home. That perked him up and he willingly took off, hoping that if he played hard enough the hours would go by faster and he could see them again.

They had been just outside of the conference room when Hinata turned to him, a worried expression on her face.

"You really don't have to take us home." She said "We've imposed on you enough, I think."

Unlike before where it had been genuine worry he could now hear something in her tone that suggested her reasoning had more to do with them and not with Sasuke taking the two of them home.

"I don't mind and I'll be staying in the car, if that's alright with you."

She let out one of those – really annoying – sighs of hers and she took her arm in his. "I hope it's fine that we only stay a few hours, I want to get Kenta home and into bed at a reasonable time."

Walking into the massive conference room together he had to raise his voice slightly from all of the voices murmuring in the room "That's fine. Whenever you're ready. For now, let's focus on being as impressive as our outfits show us as."

There was a small giggle and he had to admit his mood was actually improving. The more they walked around and mingled, the more his mood improved. Mostly this was a male ego thing, scanning over all of the men and their dates he had sized the females up and so far none of them came close to being as beautiful and sexy as the woman he had at his arm. Business date or not, when a guy had a hot girl at his side he felt a little arrogant about himself. It was basically a feeling of 'Yeah, that's right, this beautiful number is _my_ date, sucks to be you' thing. Almost like a guy and his car except one girl you could bring to bed later if you were lucky. Much as he loved his car, Anna could not fit in his apartment, much less his bed. Now, if Anna could turn into a woman and then back to a car when he needed her, that would just be –

"Good evening," a deep voice, sounded older, cut through his random thoughts and Sasuke looked at a middle aged couple who, if he could remember correctly, was one of their older clients with the company. He could only assume the woman was his wife. "Your face young man, it looks familiar."

The younger couple gave a polite nod of the head "Sir, you might be confusing me with my older brother, Itachi Uchiha. I've been told I resemble him."

The man laughed "No no, I've met _you_ before, I know what Itachi looks like." He held out his hand and Sasuke shook it "So Itachi's little brother has finally made it to an executive position, I heard and I knew you were coming but…" he tilted his head slightly at Hinata who gave him a rather pretty blush at the scrutiny "This beautiful young woman –"

His wife hit him lightly on the head and the man laughed, taking Hinata's hand and briefly bringing it to his lips. "I'm Reynold West and this is my wife Ingrid."

"I'm Hinata Hyuuga, sir. I'm representing Mr. Uchiha and his interests tonight."

The older couple looked at her in surprise "My, that's probably the most interesting thing I'll hear this entire year. I've never known him to send a representative. He must consider you in high regard."

"I've worked with Mr. Uchiha for five years, sir. Under normal circumstances I am his assistant."

They just stared at her. A little concerned, Sasuke felt her move a little closer to him. "I-Is there something…"

"Oh, oh no dear, nothing like that," the man hastened to reassure "it's just…well we have known Mr. Uchiha for a long time and not once has he ever sent a representative in his place, and knowing your position…well, it's a little confusing as to why you're just his assistant when he obviously regards you so highly."

His date looked confused and Sasuke knew he was going to have to explain that later. The old man wasn't lying and Itachi had actually stretched the truth with his assistant when he said he would send another representative. When he had first heard his brother mention it to Hinata he had been just as surprised, but hadn't said anything. Itachi had wanted Hinata, and _only_ Hinata to represent him, he wouldn't have sent anyone else. The loophole around Itachi's words was that basically Sasuke would, in his brother's eyes, be the extra 'representative', so it really wasn't a lie so much as a 'if you don't go Sasuke will be going by himself as both executive and representative' stretch of truth or lie of omission, in this case. Itachi always had a way with words.

"Well, I'm honored that he would choose me for such a task," Hinata remarked politely "As for my position, Mr. Uchiha has asked me in the past two years if I had wanted to move up, but with my son Kenta I didn't really want to cut away the little amount of time I have with him now. Besides, I truly do enjoy my job and Mr. Uchiha is a wonderful man to work under."

So Itachi _had_ offered Hinata a bigger position. He probably hadn't even understood at the time why she had initially rejected such an outstanding offer for someone of her position and educational background, or lack thereof.

They chatted a bit more with the couple and then moved along, meeting with clients and introducing themselves properly. Both were often given congratulations on their positions and all of them had been impressed with the fact that Itachi had sent his personal secretary of all people to speak for him, the president of a massive company.

After the first hour Hinata's face was pretty much a permanent red from blushing at all the compliments while trying to maintain her composure and respond professionally. She really was doing a great job and she honestly did know everything about every deal that Itachi had, the details, even down to Itachi's personal notes and opinions. In all honesty, Hinata probably knew more about the on-goings of the company than he did, and he was an Uchiha. The one thing she never did was give her personal opinions on a deal, she would always suggest that they refer to his brother for something like that, as her personal opinion could not be considered 'official'. Smooth, polite, but firm. Sasuke was sure that the two of them had made a good impression so far, to which Itachi would be pleased to hear.

_Then again, Itachi wouldn't have sent us if he felt we would screw up._

At the beginning of the second hour it was announced that orders would be taken for whoever wished to dine, all they had to do was take a seat at any of the white tables set up for them. He had been considering finding the West couple and eating there when something red caught his attention.

It was the president of Suna Industrials, a tall woman with blonde hair separated into four ponytails was at his side. Her dress was black and rather slinky, sexy yet not enough to be trashy for something like this. She was pretty, although he still thought his date was hotter, mostly because he felt it was true but also because she was his date.

"I remember you from a month ago," the redhead said calmly, regarding Hinata "I spoke with you briefly as one of Mr. Uchiha's clients had been taking a bit too long with their meeting. You are Hinata Hyuuga, correct?"

Sasuke blinked. Hinata's face, if possible, turned even redder. "I…Mr. Sabaku I'm very honored that you remembered my name after only speaking with me briefly."

"I do not forget faces," he said and Sasuke saw the man do something he hadn't done at all when he first met him; he smiled. It was small but it was there. "I especially do not believe that I," he took her hand, briefly placing her fingers against his lips "would forget a face as beautiful as yours."

He was…this guy was hitting on his date, right in front of him. He didn't know whether to congratulate the bastard for the smooth delivery he had just made or deck him.

Green eyes turned to him "Sasuke Uchiha," he remarked "it is a pleasure to meet you again." He motioned to his date "Ms. Hyuuga, Mr. Uchiha, this is my sister and vice president of the company, Temari."

They exchanged the basic pleasantries, shake or kiss a hand and take a step back. Gaara's sister was eyeing him with interest and under normal circumstances he wouldn't have minded. Right now he was struggling with the fact that he did not like this man around Hinata at all, which only meant one thing. Jealousy.

_I have a girlfriend._ He reminded himself.

"Ms. Hyuuga, I have been informed that you are representing Itachi Uchiha tonight is that correct?" the red head asked. She smiled and gave a small affirmative "There is something that I would like to ask you and- "

His sister tugged at his arm "Don't try and bother the woman about work, Gaara."

"But that is some of the reason we are here," his expression showed that he didn't quite understand why Temari was giving him a hard time "unofficial talks and minor presentations are discussed or delivered, to be scheduled for a more detailed meeting in the future." Feeling that he had made his point he turned back to Hinata "In any case, my question is actually concerning the advertising aspect of our joint venture. It was something I, unfortunately, forgot to bring up at our last meeting."

"Do you mean the discussions on what each side felt would be good for the slogan, icon and other advertising aspects?" Hinata frowned slightly in thought "If I recall, earlier in the week Mr. Uchiha had stated that he felt content to allow your company to handle the marketing and advertising, as he felt your team had held more…creativity concerning those aspects. Actually, there should be a correspondence letter regarding the details that you should receive soon, I was informed to send it out the other day."

Both Temari and Gaara blinked at her in slight astonishment. Gaara recovered first, giving her an actual, genuine smile "Ms. Hyuuga, you are obviously well informed and as I know you are speaking for Mr. Uchiha himself I will inform my team that they are to continue with their efforts and at a later date we will present them to your company."

"I will make sure that he is made aware, Mr. Sabaku."

"You may call me by my first name, if you wish," he turned slightly, a bit distracted and turned back "I have no doubts that you will inform him at an opportune moment. Unfortunately, I am expected at a table and everyone but Temari and I are present. It's been a pleasure."

Well, that had been interesting. The man had shown more facial expressions in that brief exchange than he had the entire two and a half hours they had spoken earlier this week. Obviously the man held a slight interest in Hinata – which was annoying him and he was trying to ignore that – and if he remembered correctly the young president was unattached.

_It doesn't matter who is attached to whom because you got Sakura, jackass!_

"We should find a table," he suggested and she briefly nodded, although there was something off about her. She seemed, giddy. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her "I take it you found the president impressive?"

As if caught with her hand in the cookie jar Hinata's gaze snapped up to his and she gave him a small but apologetic smile. "I-I'm sorry. I must have been rude."

"No, it was very obvious who he had specifically walked over to talk to." His voice was flat as he answered and he allowed himself to be distracted with finding a table. There was one where a few younger executives were sitting and there was enough room for the two of them. She agreed when he had suggested it and soon they found themselves holding idle conversations with the other members as they indulged on their rather outstanding dinner.

He didn't speak much to Hinata for a while, mostly because he wasn't really sure what he wanted to say to her and he had a sneaking suspicion what he could say would end up sounding terribly wrong. Being around this woman drove him to distraction, he didn't even feel like himself anymore. Being jealous over her and Gaara was bringing him frustration and heavy guilt. He shouldn't be feeling jealous of another woman when he had one waiting for him. Maybe if the two of them left early enough he could stop by Sakura's apartment and somewhat surprise her like he had last week. She hadn't complained too much the last time.

Around the end of the second hour the older generation of corporate individuals began to spread out on the designated dance floor to dance as the live band played softly in the background. Eventually everyone would be out dancing; it was poor form if you didn't at least participate a little bit. He wondered if Hinata could even dance; he hadn't thought to ask.

By the time Sasuke had decided that he would, as a date should, dance with her at least once – and very briefly – a certain red haired individual appeared beside Hinata and offered his hand.

"Ms. Hyuuga, would you care to dance?" he asked and with a small nod he took her hand.

The only thing he could think of was how eager she had seemed to be when he had offered, and how upset it made him. Sasuke actually felt as if he had just been blown off by his own date and there were just too many conflicting emotions for him to pin it down to one thing.

Gaara's sister asked him to dance, to which he actually politely declined. Surprised but not ruffled, she had shrugged and walked away, but he hadn't really even been paying attention to her. From where he was sitting he only needed to turn his head to see them dancing together. They actually danced for quite some time, the Suna president slowly pulling her closer to him bit by bit as the songs went by. A few times he would bend down and say something to her. A few times she giggled and responded with something Sasuke couldn't catch. What had been a somewhat pleasant night had now turned sour, for the longer he watched them the angrier he became. The angrier he became the guiltier he felt for even feeling that way in the first place. Eventually he excused himself from the table and headed to the bathroom.

He needed to get his damn priorities straight. Hinata, not an option. Girlfriend, already have one. Cheating, out of the fucking question; he refused to sink so low. Washing his hands he put them through his hair a few times when, of all people, Gaara walked in. They exchanged brief glances and then Sasuke went to dry his hands.

"Are you really that interested in my date?" the question came out before he could even stop himself and he mentally berated himself for it. The last thing he needed to do was piss off one of the company's major clients.

Gaara had been washing his hands when Sasuke had asked and he paused for just a moment before turning the water off. He calmly walked over to the paper towels, avoiding the automatic dryer, put the papers in the trash and then answered his question.

"One would have to be a fool not to be interested in someone like Ms. Hyuuga," he responded with a small smile "However, one would be a bigger fool if he had an opportunity and refused to take it. Excuse me."

When he left Sasuke remained behind, even though he had long since finished. Leaning against the counter tops he dipped his head down, frustrated and very angry.

The fact that he agreed with the redhead pissed him off, because 'technically', he did have an opportunity. He wasn't married, she wasn't married. He could always dump his girlfriend. But that was wrong and he hated the fact that he felt _conflicted_ about it; that he actually, for a few brief moments, seriously considered following Gaara's advice and making a move on Hinata before someone else did.

He didn't love Sakura, but he was with her and he had been fine with things – for the most part – until this had all happened. He didn't love Hinata but he _liked_ her; a different like than what he felt for Sakura. He liked Sakura as a friend; she was a wonderful person and one of his two best friends. He liked Hinata in an 'I wouldn't actually mind her being my girlfriend' sort of way. For a few moments, standing there after Gaara had left; he had seriously thought that maybe he should just break up with Sakura, because he wasn't sure if he could handle seeing Hinata with another guy. Once he had realized it he had immediately felt angry with himself for not being able to keep his feelings under control. Even if he did break up with Sakura for Hinata he was sure that the type of relationship she wanted would not be the sort of relationship he could give her. He liked his independence; he had no intentions of ever getting married. Hinata needed someone stable around because she had a kid. Either way, it wouldn't work and it was best to stick with what you had, especially if it was good enough. Which it was. At least, he had felt that way for the past three years. Now he would think of Kenta and Hinata and he didn't know anymore. Didn't know himself anymore.

Still angry and frustrated with himself he stormed out of the bathroom and coolly walked back over to his table. Hinata was there and so was Gaara, he was bent over and whispering something in her ear as she sat down at the table. Then the red head looked up, spotted Sasuke and excused himself, giving him another small smile as he walked back over to his table.

Hinata was still a bright red when he finally did walk over to her and he probably looked pretty damn angry because when she looked up at him her expression immediately changed to worry and almost slight confusion.

"Is everything alright Sasuke?" she asked softly, placing a hand gently on his arm. He fought the urge to shake her off.

"I think we should get going soon," he remarked flatly "it's been three hours already, I should get you and Kenta home."

"Oh." Her face flushed again "H-has the time really passed by so quickly?"

_Yes, although you probably wouldn't know because you were too busy dancing with someone else other than your date._

They collected Kenta, who was very sleepy and clingy towards his mother. The only reason Sasuke didn't drive like he usually did when he was pissed off was because the boy was in the car. In the car ride to her place the air felt tense and heavy.

"Sasuke?" she asked softly "Are you…is something the matter?"

"No." He immediately snapped at her "Nothing is wrong. What did you and Gaara talk about anyway?"

"Hm?" She leaned back a bit in the seat with a thoughtful expression "Well, he asked me about myself mostly, my hobbies and interests. He told me a little about himself, not much, and he said it was admirable that I'm a single parent holding the position I do yet I still manage to take care of Kenta."

"That was it?" No pick up lines? No invitation to dinner? They had just danced and talked?

"Mm, that was about it." Suddenly her eyes widened and her face turned a dark shade of red "W-well, he um, he did ask me if I was busy tomorrow a-and that maybe we could have lunch together. He said I could even bring Kenta, if I wanted."

"Why don't you let me watch him." It wasn't phrased as a question so much as a 'you are going to let me do this'. He wasn't sure why but he didn't want Kenta around the redhead, didn't want him to have any positive influence on him. A very childish part of him realized he didn't want Gaara to look better than him in the boy's eyes and he was reaching his limit of tolerance tonight.

"What?" Hinata sounded nervous "I don't think…I mean if you really want to I suppose but…"

"I can pick him up at ten, earlier if you'd like." His voice was flat, cold "I don't mind, I like spending time with him." _I don't want that guy near him, or you, and fuck I don't know what the hell I'm doing every time I open my fucking mouth_. "Besides, you'll be able to enjoy your date a little longer. When was the last time you went out by yourself anyway?"

"I…w-well…thank you so much Sasuke, I appreciate it. I really do. I'm not sure how I'll be able to repay you."

"Don't worry about it, I'm offering because I want to, not because I want a favor." There was more silence between them. "You danced with him for a long time." _Why do I keep opening my mouth? Every time I do I say something incredibly stupid._

"Oh. Um. Well…I th-though you would have wanted to dance but um, you never asked and I didn't want to impose."

"Whatever. Don't worry about it." Hinata continued to give him a worried glance, to which he ignored, until they arrived at her house. When Kenta and Hinata were safely out and away from his car he closed the door and didn't even say goodbye, just sped off, leaving his date probably bewildered.

He was going to Sakura's. He was going to get his priorities straight. He wasn't going to care that Hinata wanted to go on a date with Gaara, it wasn't his business. He was going to spend a little time with his girlfriend and then go home. Screw. This. Shit.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:** As much as I shouldn't have, this chapter made me laugh a lot. Like I've said before for some reason I keep writing Sasuke as being sarcastic although before Shippuden he had just been an arrogant dick. I think I mostly do this because he probably wouldn't have grown up to be as serious as he had been had his entire clan not died and his brother had stuck around. At least, that's what I keep wanting to tell myself. I swear one day I'm going to write a fic where he's just a dick and not a sarcastic dick.

This chapter be the changing point, enjoi.

xxxxx

**Chapter Six**

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It was around eleven thirty again when Sasuke finally arrived at Sakura's and he wondered if he should knock again or not. She didn't have a working doorbell and he was sure her neighbors hadn't been too thrilled the last time he had pounded on her door as if he had been the damn police. Digging into his pocket his fingers trailed around the key to her apartment. He'd never used it before, hadn't felt a need to and normally didn't need to because he always came over at a _decent hour_. Maybe he needed to start using it, maybe he needed to start taking his relationship with her seriously. All of this stuff with Hinata and her son was driving him insane; he couldn't think straight at all. Sakura was the girl he was with, she was the one he needed to be focusing seriously on.

With that, he decided to use the key and maybe talk to her a bit about going a little further with their relationship. Maybe he'd let her move into his apartment or something, it wasn't as if he didn't have enough space.

It was dark inside when he walked in although there was light coming in from her bedroom. Figuring she must be awake he rounded the corner but he could see the lump shape of Sakura on her bed. Did she normally sleep with the lights on when he wasn't around? Quietly he walked down the hall, figuring he could just slide into bed with her and surprise her that way.

When he reached the threshold he heard running water. Confused, he took another step in and noticed her bathroom light was on. Sakura was lying on the bed, eyes closed and from what he could tell from where he was standing, naked.

"Hey Sakura, I was just wondering if I –"

There was a _very_ long moment of silence as Sasuke stared at his best friend, in his girlfriend's apartment, wearing nothing but boxers with a toothbrush in his mouth and a cup in his hand. He didn't look over but he heard Sakura make a noise.

"Mm, what Naruto?" she asked "You just stopped talking…"

"What the fuck is going on here?" Sasuke asked, although it sounded as if he were asking someone a regular question, there was no anger or hatred in his tone. He just _stared_ at his best friend as if the blonde would disappear if he did it hard enough because really, why was he here? His brain, at this point, had gone blank. There were no real thoughts going on in Sasuke's mind and he felt rather numb.

"S-Sasuke…" Panic flickered over his friend and Sakura bolted up, pulling the sheets over her breast as if he'd never seen it all before.

Apparently, his best friend had been looking as well.

When Sakura spoke up he found his voice flat and he could feel himself switching over to extreme sarcasm – a defensive mechanism - as he addressed his friend again "You see, I'm a tad bit confused here. I'm pretty sure this is my _girlfriend's_ apartment and I'm pretty sure that's her bed and that's her looking at me as if I'm some sort of fucking ghost. The only part of this equation I can't seem to understand is why _you_ are here. Why are you here, in my girlfriend's apartment, dressed in only boxers in her room?" Sasuke's voice shifted from flat to almost genuine inquiry. He spoke calmly, as if he were having a normal, pleasant conversation with someone. His expression is one of honest confusion, but not anger. Not yet.

"Sasuke, it's…it's not what you think -" his girlfriend came in and he slowly turned his head in her direction, regarding her coldly. He felt the anger rising, a warmth starting from his stomach and spreading, increasing in intensity.

"Sakura, do I have 'Stupid' written on my fucking forehead?" he looked at her as if she had been an idiot for even making such a statement, which – at the moment – he felt was true. "Last time I checked my mathematical skills were above average. So with that said, I'm pretty sure that naked girlfriend plus half naked best friend in naked girlfriend's house equals that you two. Were. Fucking. Is there something more I need to think about in that equation or can you shut the fuck up for a minute while I talk to my so-called best friend?"

Her excuse felt insulting to his intelligence and it actually made him very angry, almost violently so. The only reason he had yet to strike out was _because_ these were his best friends and he'd known them for years. His crappy night had turned into an explosive shit storm and he felt like one big fucking tool.

"Listen, Sasuke," his friend said calmly, toothbrush inside the cup he had been holding "I know this…look, this wasn't something that we meant to happen, it just did. It was an accident, I swear."

"Oh." Sasuke blinked once "Well, that's understandable, I suppose. We all have our weak moments. How long has accident lasted?" He was being highly sarcastic at this point although some really stupid part of him felt as if maybe it had just been a one night thing, a fuck up. He could understand that. He really could. He could forgive it.

"M-maybe you should calm down a little and – "Sakura again. He really didn't want to hear her voice right now, but he turned to her anyway.

"Sakura. I'm asking Naruto a question. I've asked it, I do believe, very calmly. You will get your fucking turn so just sit there and be silent for a moment. If you interrupt again I will become very upset."

"C'mon man, we've been friends for how long?" His 'friend' chuckled lightly "All of us, so I mean-"

"That's right Naruto." Sasuke cut him off, leaning against Sakura's dresser as he looked at him coolly "You are my friend. My best friend. So _why are you fucking my girlfriend?!_" He roared the last part at him and he heard Sakura scream in the background. He didn't yell, Sasuke hadn't yelled since he had been a child, but the more they kept talking to him the angrier he became. The more excuses they made the more he wanted to start tearing the place apart. "Last time I checked, you don't fuck around with your best friend's girlfriend." Immediately his voice went back to its calm, low tone although the anger could finally be heard. "Last time I checked," he looked at Sakura "girlfriends shouldn't _fuck_ around with their boyfriend's best friend." He turned back to Naruto "So, my two questions are," he lifted a hand to tick off his points with his fingers "Why are you fucking my girlfriend, and how long have you been fucking my girlfriend? You don't need to answer these any particular order, but I want a goddamn answer. _Now_, if you don't mind."

"Sasuke, please don't do this…" Sakura, at this point, was crying. Enraged, he stalked over to her bed, ignoring Naruto's cries and her scream. He leaned his forearm against her headboard and looked at her.

"Since you don't want to shut the fuck up, I'll ask you. How. Long."

He ignored her sobbing because he really didn't care at this point. He didn't really give much of a shit about anything at the moment, especially her _feelings_."A….a year…"

"Wait." He stared at her for a second in disbelief "What did you just say to me? Did you just say an entire _year_ this has been going on? Seriously?" Sasuke abruptly stood up, slowly walking back to his best friend. "An accident." He glared at Naruto, his dark eyes glittering with rage "Naruto, that's a_ really_ _long_ fucking accident!" he took a step forward as his voice raised and his friend took a step back. "Who the fuck has the same accident for an entire year?"

"Dude, I'm sorry!" the blonde exclaimed "I really am sorry! I mean, I know I fucked up but I mean, with all the girlfriend's you've had you can't tell me you haven't slipped up at least once?"

"No!" Sasuke yelled at him, dragging out the sound "As a kid I sat there for _years_ watching my mom cry on a nightly basis because my father was _openly_ cheating on her. I didn't even blame her when she finally left. So no, I've never slipped up, fucked up, whatever because I've always felt that people who cheat on each other are _garbage_." He said the last part with so much disgust and venom in his voice that the two of them looked away from him. Apparently neither friend had anything to say to him and so for a minute or so there was silence.

He wanted to leave. He didn't want to be here anymore, listening to their excuses and attempts to try and reason with him. With a sigh he cut through the silence, putting a hand through his hair. "Listen guys, I've had an _incredibly_ shitty night and you two have made it so fucked up I don't even know if I want to just walk out of here and never look back or beat the shit out of you Naruto. I'm starting to feel a craving for both." He looked at Sakura, confused "Why? If you weren't happy, all you had to do was say something. Or even break up with me, I would have been fine with that. None of this makes any sense."

"Y-you were…always gone…" she tried to explain "I love you Sasuke but I –"

"No, you don't." His voice was hard, his tolerance level lowering "Sakura, when you love someone, you don't cheat on them." He said to her as if speaking to a child.

She was calming down at this point, wiping at her face. Slowly, her eyes came up to meet his "W-well what…what about that woman and her child?"

"What?" His eyes narrowed "Sakura, I've _never_ cheated on you. Even during the three years when we weren't together for a time I didn't sleep with anyone. You. Have been doing this for an entire year. That is twelve months, three hundred and sixty-five days give or take leap year."

"Sasuke, you can't tell me that you were with a client until ten at night and something not have happened." The small accusation in her voice actually made him slam his fist into her dresser, a loud cracking sound as the wood split. Naruto jumped, Sakura screamed again. It didn't even remotely make him feel better.

All this time. He had been sitting there, _agonizing_ over the fact that he was starting to feel something for another woman when he had a girlfriend and she had been sleeping with his best friend for a year. Her accusing him of anything made him want to _destroy_ her entire apartment. He had always held very strong feelings about cheating, being accused, even a little bit, felt like a slap to the face. He closed his eyes briefly.

"Although I never specifically mentioned the person was a woman, your assumption is correct. She's not a client, she's my co-worker and she had been my brother's representative and my 'business' date tonight. That Saturday I took her to purchase the dress that she wore to the party in which - by the way since we're getting it all out in the open - I have definitely imagined myself doing to her what obviously Naruto has done to you tonight. Frequently. I took her son to the amusement park. I took them home. I even tucked the kid in. But that was it Sakura. I didn't kiss her, I didn't hug her, I think maybe, _maybe_ the only thing you could accuse me of was holding her hand and well, compared to what you two have been doing for _the past year_ I'd say my situation is rather tame. So fuck you and your accusations."

He took a breath and let it out. So far, he felt like he was doing a pretty damn good job of not killing them both. Because he wanted to. Specifically Naruto since he didn't really believe in hitting a female. There were guy codes, unwritten rules specifying things you just _did not do_ to your guy friends. This was pretty close to the top of the list.

"Sasuke, we were going to tell you…" Naruto tried again.

"No, you weren't, both of you stop insulting my fucking intelligence. Every time you give me a bullshit excuse or comment the angrier I get because I feel like you think I'm some sort of fucking idiot." Sasuke snapped "Normally if you have an 'accident' like this you either A, forget it happened or don't speak of it again or B you tell the person that you fucked up. Both are even acceptable. You do not continue to have the 'accident' and if you do continue and you don't at least do option B you are never going to do option B because then you find yourselves in the position you're in now where the boyfriend feels very close to committing _homicide_. Since you didn't do option B for a _year_, didn't even hint at it, it is a pretty safe bet to assume you were _never_ going to grow the balls to do it. It also didn't help your case that when I walked in you were smiling like a fucking idiot. Seems you've been feeling pretty happy and comfortable _not_ telling me."

Still leaning on the cracked dresser there was silence, save for Sakura's sobbing, in the room. Sasuke took another deep breath and looked at his girlfriend. 

"Just for future reference, I just want to make sure I have this shit straight. You. Sakura Haruno, my girlfriend, have been, at the same time having sex with both myself and my best friend right?" he didn't wait for anyone to nod and his expression turned dark "Do you know how fucking disgusting that is to me? Past lovers, I can understand because it's over, but now knowing that I had my dick in someplace where my best friend might have had access to days, weeks, _hours_ ago is fucking disgusting." He took in another breath. "Sakura, you should have said _something_ to me. Something besides 'I don't see you around a lot, I miss you'. Something more along the lines of 'you're not giving it to me enough so I'm going to go fuck your best friend'. I would have gotten the goddamn hint."

"It wasn't like that!" she yelled at him, still sobbing "I just – I…"

"It was an 'accident', yes, I've heard." He dipped his head down and sighed "Look, the only reason, the _only_ reason I haven't actually flown off the handle right now is because we've been friends since we were kids. More than anything, I've valued our friendship. I didn't really have a family as a kid, you guys became that; that's something I can admit now at this point. I don't know if I can ever forgive you guys for this. I really don't. Because seriously Sakura? Naruto? All you had to do was say the fucking word and I would have backed off. Gladly." He tossed Sakura's key at her "This is the dumbest shit I've ever experienced. I'm out of here; I can't even stand the sight of you two right now." Waving a hand in the air he turned and walked out of the room.

He felt angry but mostly betrayed. After the first time they could have told him and he would have been okay with it, he wouldn't have even gotten angry, he would have been happy for them. But for an entire year? He hadn't even wanted the relationship in the first place, that was what was bothering him the most. While they were lying around did they ever stop once to think that they shouldn't drag their best friend down a relationship when it was obvious they wanted to be together? Best friends they may be but there were just some things you didn't _share_.

And Hinata. If he had known, things would have been different, he would have acted differently, he would have approached the situation differently. He felt…cheated. Not just cheated on but cheated. He had hung onto a relationship he had never even wanted because he felt that Sakura _had_ and that she wanted to be with him. Now because of that, he felt that he had missed out on a relationship he really did want but hadn't pursued because he hadn't wanted to betray his girlfriend, no, best friend, like that. Not if she had truly loved him, which obviously she hadn't.

Right when Sasuke reached the door Naruto, now sporting jeans, ran up to him. "Sasuke," he looked as if he was almost going to put a hand on his shoulder but the look on his face must have held him back "Look, I'm – _we're_ sorry. If it were me, I don't think I would have handled it the same. I don't…really know what to say that would make this better because I don't think there is, but I don't want us to lose our friendship." A strained expression came over his face. "I…I don't know why I never said anything to you. I wanted to, even at the beginning, but for some reason I didn't. I let it get out of hand and I'm sorry. I'm _not_ just saying that because you caught us either."

"Naruto," he looked at the blonde "I never loved Sakura. You knew it, I knew it, she knew it. But _you_ have loved her since we were kids. The reason why this is so absurdly _stupid_ is because I had never wanted to have a relationship with her in the first place." He opened the door "To be honest, I always thought she should have been with you." Ignoring his friend's startled expression he closed the door and quickly headed to his car. He did not look back. He didn't want to look back. He just put his car into gear and decided it was time to just drive.

His entire world on a personal level had just crashed down around his ears like some sort of tragic train wreck. When his cell phone went off and the caller ID in his car showed Sakura's name he ignored it. He didn't want to talk to them anymore – although he guessed it was probably really only Sakura, since she hadn't said too much - all they had given him were shitty excuses as to why they had royally screwed over their friend. Literally. He wanted to be left alone.

Somehow or another he found himself pulling up to a small little house in a quaint little neighborhood and dropped his head on the edge of the steering wheel wondering why the hell he had came here of all places? The last thing he needed to do was dump his problems out on someone, especially a woman who he didn't even know where they stood in terms of…anything. Yet he sat there, his forehead on the steering wheel and his hands in his hair, unmoving for a long time.

For a little while felt that if he just sat there in his car long enough he would wake up and this night would have been one horrible fucking nightmare. Of course, he knew that this was reality and that his best friend was probably there still with his ex-girlfriend, trying to console her when she really needed to be slapped. How could she even sit there and _lie_ about how she loved him with Naruto even there? What the fuck was wrong with her? Not that Naruto was any better, he knew that what he was doing had been wrong, he knew that Sasuke _never_ would have done it to him, to any of them.

A small, bitter part of him wished he had kissed Hinata that night. Kissed her and held her and anything else she would have allowed him to do to her and the list was pretty long. Really? An entire year? He would have practically killed himself the first time he caught himself cheating on his girlfriend. In fact, he had been beating himself up over it for over a week, beating himself up over just _thinking_ about being with another woman. He had been terrified that he was turning into his father – something that actually made him feel physically ill. He just didn't know what to do or really say to any of it. He felt like he had been part of some really sick joke.

A small knocking sound on his door brought him out of his thoughts and he looked out to see Hinata there, a concerned expression on her face. She couldn't see him through his window so he rolled it down. When she looked at him her hands flew to her face, eyes wide with alarm and worry.

"Sasuke? What…what happened to you? Are you alright?"

_I really look that bad, huh? _"Do you keep any alcohol in your house?" he asked abruptly.

She looked pensive "Um, I have some brandy that I've never opened. I don't really drink."

"I don't either," he admitted, shrugging out of his jacket, his tie already having been removed. "But right now, I really need a drink and I'm _not_ going to a bar to feel sorry for myself. So if you don't mind, I would be grateful if you would allow me to have one drink and then I'll leave." With a sigh he moved back to his earlier position "I don't even know why I'm here." He muttered to himself. He should go home but going back to his apartment wasn't appealing to him.

A soft but shaky hand slowly slid along his shoulder until it rested there. Sasuke didn't move. Hinata leaned forward "Sasuke, you're more than welcome to come inside; I don't think one glass will kill anyone. When I saw your car I didn't know if it was you at first but…"

Opening the door he slid out of his car and stretched a bit, putting another hand through his probably extremely messed up hair by now. She didn't reach for him again and he didn't touch her because in the state he was in he didn't know what he'd do if he did.

It was quiet when he walked in, Kenta's door was closed and the light was out in his room. He walked over to the far wall and sat on the couch she had, holding his head with his hands, his elbows propped up against his thighs.

After a while he heard the dull thud of something hitting wood and he looked up at a wide wine glass half full with brandy. Hinata walked over and sat across from him on one of the sofa chairs, setting her own glass down.

"So," he began, simply because he couldn't help himself. Even though he didn't want to dump his problems on her he _had_ to get it off his chest. "I stopped by my girlfriend's apartment tonight. I walk inside," he could hear her sharp intake of breath because it was obvious where it was leading "and there she is, lying in her bed, very much naked, and my best friend walks out of the bathroom, _brushing his fucking teeth_ in his boxers."

There was shocked silence "S-Sasuke I-I'm so very sorry." Her voice was filled with concern and – he was hoping – sympathy.

His dark gaze met hers "I didn't love her, you know. I didn't even have those 'romantic' feelings for her. The three of us had grown up together; I had thought we were really close. I only stayed with her because I thought that was what she wanted and it didn't bother me to do that. Who else was I going to be around? The irony of it all is that I had always thought they should have been together, and this happens." A scowl "I don't know the details or why they did it. I don't know. All I know is that they didn't tell me _shit_ for a year."

His expression shifted into genuine pain as he regarded her. "How am I supposed to feel about that? I didn't even _want_ to be with her and that's what makes this sound so _stupid_ to me. For a year the three of us have been wasting our time with each other like this. There's no logic to it, it's idiotic. I could understand if they hadn't _known_ how I felt about her, but they did. They knew I didn't love her, they knew that my best friend did and that I only saw her as a friend the entire time. So why didn't they just tell me? Who was Sakura pretending for? It couldn't have been me; my feelings wouldn't have been hurt in the slightest. Was she trying to fool herself into thinking that she could be 'in love' with me but screw around with my friend? Was he just along for the ride and Sakura dicked us both? Was it really an 'accident' like they say it is and Naruto, in his love for Sakura, kept pursuing it? I don't know; I just know that I feel like an idiot."

Her hands felt cool when they moved over his. "I-I'm not sure I know what to say," her voice was soft, a hush in the silence of the night "I…I'm sorry that this happened to you, it's…it's horrible what they've done. B-but I've never had something like this happen to me so..."

"It's fine, this is fine." He felt so very tired all of a sudden "Talking helps, I guess. I've been trying to work it all out in my head but it's not like a math problem and whenever I do try and piece it together it all comes out to 'this entire situation is stupid' and 'what the hell have I been doing for the past year?' Even though I didn't feel that way I never cheated on her and…" he caught her gaze and she blushed, looking away "and I was _sorely_ tempted to. I sat there, thinking myself a shitbag because of what had almost happened and then I find this out. I could have dated other women, tried to find someone I _did_ like and wanted to be with. An entire year of that was wasted because my friends, apparently, have no fucking balls."

Her hands remained over his and she didn't move, she just knelt there, he figured she probably wouldn't move unless he moved her or he told her to.

"D-do you know what you're going to do now?" she asked him.

"No." he answered honestly "I have no clue. I am officially back on the market but I don't feel like being with anyone right now. If I can't trust even my best friends who can I trust?"

He felt her arms move around him in an awkward hug considering their positions. Sasuke didn't move for a while but she still held him, her cheek resting on his head. Then slowly, _slowly_ he felt himself move his arms to circle around her. He pulled her as close as the couch would allow and buried his face in the crook of her neck. She smelled like lavender and fabric softener. He didn't cry, although the betrayal of his friends certainly made him want to, he didn't yell or scream; he just held her. At one point his arms had tightened around her and he could only think about how good she smelled and how soft she was. Maybe it was the _only_ thing he wanted to think about, because thinking about anything else just hurt.

After a long time he heard her voice, soft "D-do you want to s-stay here tonight?"

_I misheard that, I know I did._ "What?" he sat straight up on the sofa, giving her a horrified look "I can't do that Hinata."

"N-not…" her face turned a bright red and she spluttered a bit, backing away, her hands waving "Just…on the couch. Y-you were going to come over anyway for Kenta right? S-so please, it's late and it's not the most comfortable couch but…"

_Oh. Why the hell not? _"Yeah, it's fine, thanks." Relaxing, he didn't move his arms back around her and she leaned back on her haunches, worry still etched on her face. Instead of continuing to look at her he turned his body so that he was lying on his back. There was silence. He put his hand over his eyes.

"Should I forgive them?" he wanted to know "I mean, I feel angry because I was lied to and was being jerked around, but if they're together and I didn't want the relationship in the first place, should I really be angry?"

"I'm not sure. I don't really know what I would have done. I don't think that you should hate them if you've been friends for so long, but I don't think you should easily forgive them for what they've done either. It's very obvious that they hurt you and I hope that they understand that but…"

"Hn." Sasuke was silent for a moment "Time. I just need some time to really get this sorted out in my head before I can talk to them again. I think the fact that they lied to me like this makes me feel like they didn't consider me as much of a friend; like I was the only one who took the friendship seriously."

Hinata didn't say anything and after a while he removed his hand and turned his head to look at her. Her hair was down, some spilling over her shoulder as she looked off to the side and down. She looked sad and worried and he found himself raising a hand to her.

_Hinata._


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:** Ooookay, apparently the poll went from a solid ItaHina to an overwhelming SasuHina. Liek, ho crap gaiz. Well, I do have another SasuHina that I will try to work on…whenever I can figure out how the heck I want it to go. For you yaoi lovers, by some weird twisted coincidence SasuNeji emerged in the recent GaaHina fic that I'm writing (which is almost done…I think). I have never done an M/M relationship so if it sucks I'm sorry ahead of time. You'll see more on that when I actually finish the durned thing.

Oh yah, cliffhanger. Sorries.

xxxxx

**Chapter Seven**

xxxxx

_Hinata._

There was a slight jump when she felt his fingers brush along the side of her face to pull some of her hair out of the way. Pale skin warmed with a pink tint and she shyly turned her head back to face him. Sasuke wasn't really thinking of anything as he brushed the back of his fingers along her skin, he was just enjoying the feel of her. He found himself staring but not focused on her. Her pale gaze was focused on him but he couldn't tell what she was thinking. She didn't brush his hand away or turn her head but she didn't react either. They were like that for a while, looking at each other as Sasuke's hand explored the side of her face. Slowly, Hinata's hands came up, one covering his hand and the other resting lightly on his wrist as she leaned her head into his hand.

He propped himself up on the couch, his gaze and mind still blank. Her eyes traveled up to meet his and he saw something there, in those lavender depths. Cupping her cheek, he watched with idle fascination at how no matter how red she seemed to get she could always add an extra shade or two depending on the situation.

_What's stopping me now?_ The question popped up rather randomly and he blinked but otherwise didn't react. A week ago he had desperately wanted to know how her lips would feel if he kissed her and had wondered how good she would feel against him. Turning away from her had been a very hard thing for him to do and in the end he had avoided it for nothing. Once again he found himself wondering, feeling as if he had been cheated out of something in the light of all the revelations he'd encountered. She didn't resist when he gently began to move her to him and didn't say anything as he leaned forward.

"Hinata," _I have to know. I need to know what I had missed out on._ "Is it -?"

"Yes." Her expression was unreadable but her eyes held warmth.

Sitting up a little further from his position his hand moved behind her head when he gently pressed his lips to hers. Fingers slipped into dark purple strands and he pulled her closer as he began kissing her, small but firm kisses. He could tell it felt awkward to her at first but then he felt her hand feather light on his arm. Slowly, he guided them to their feet, his other arm going around her waist, not breaking away from her. As he pulled her against him her hands slid to his shoulders, lightly resting.

It felt good, better than good really. He wasn't pushy, he didn't try to deepen their kisses; he just stood there with her. Her body was as soft and warm as he had imagined and having her pressed against him felt _so_ good. The longer they continued the more confident Hinata became, one hand moving from his shoulder to rest on his arm, the other one currently in his hair.

_If I hadn't found out the truth, I would have missed out on this._ 'This' being the hot feeling within him as he held this woman, kissed her. Lush lips, a beautiful curvy body; he had turned it away for what?

He ended the kiss, moving his hand from her hair to trail down her jaw, still holding her close. "It's late." He murmured, "You should get some rest. You have that date tomorrow."

Sasuke tried not to feel angry and hurt by the situation but it was too difficult. Because of his cheating girlfriend he had pushed Hinata away and someone else had been more than happy to come along and take his potential spot.

Hinata shook her head. "I'm going to cancel." It was a whisper.

His entire body froze "What? Hinata, are you sure? It's not like the guy is low on the ladder."

Tilting her head up she looked up at him "Do you…want me to go?"

There was a small pause as he thought about whether or not he should tell the truth. "No." he finally admitted "I don't want you or Kenta anywhere near the guy and the thought of you being with anyone but me is upsetting."

Lavender eyes closed and she let out a small breath before opening her eyes again "You're…I consider you to be a friend. I can't just go off on a date when something like this has happened to you. I want to be here."

There was a long pause. "Look, Hinata…I can't make you any promises," he began "I've lived and loved my bachelor life and I'm not sure if it's something I want to give up. I like you but I barely even know you; I don't want to jump into something. Not after this. I don't even like kids; Kenta is probably the only kid in the world I can honestly tolerate. The type of relationship…with Kenta I know you don't want anything unless it's going to be a long time thing, and I agree; the kid deserves it. This guy may not feel the same way as me about things. He might be fine with kids and want a family."

At first she didn't respond but they didn't break apart, still holding each other. She eventually smiled "Kenta adores you. He's so happy when you're around and you seem to really enjoy being with him."

"Yeah."

"You've just…tonight something very horrible happened and I completely understand your feelings on not wanting to pursue a relationship. But we don't have to be together for you to be around Kenta. I'd love to be friends with you and get to know you. You are welcome here anytime."

Sasuke didn't know what to say to that so he pulled her closer and rested his chin on top of her head. Friends was good. He could do friends. He hadn't had a female friend in years because Sakura hadn't liked him associating with them, but he liked Hinata and he wanted to be around her and her son more.

"Thanks." He finally responded "Friends is great. But seriously, it _is_ late and you should get some rest."

Finally they pulled away from each other. Sasuke turned and lay back down on the couch, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Would you like a blanket?" he heard her ask from a distance.

"No, I'm good like this." When, a minute later, Hinata started laying a blanket on him he smirked "Is it a mom thing to ask a question when you're going to do it anyway?"

Bending over, she kissed him lightly on the forehead "Maybe. Goodnight."

xxxxx

"Ms. Hyuuga," the voice was low and alert despite the hour "good evening, or rather, good morning. Is everything alright? It is quite late, did something happen?"

Hinata took a breath, looking outside the window of her room, encased in darkness. She was leaning against the window frame, cell phone in hand. "Um, y-yes, actually. Something has come up –"

"Would this something have anything to do with Sasuke Uchiha?"

At a loss for words she made a few sounds as if attempting to speak but nothing came out at first. "Mr. Sabaku, I –"

"Ms. Hyuuga," he cut her off again "before you finish your thought let me simply say that my true surprise is that I did not receive this call earlier."

Frowning, she put more of her weight against the window frame "Y-you were?"

He made a small affirmative sound "I had suspected something like this would happen based on tonight's events, yes. I take it that you will need to cancel our luncheon?"

"I-I…" she was at a loss for words. "I'm sorry it's just…" her hand gripped the phone tighter "I didn't mean –"

"Ms. Hyuuga, while your consideration towards my feelings is admirable, it is also unnecessary. I am not upset."

"You're not?"

"I am perhaps a tad disappointed that I will be unable to see you as soon as I would have liked; but as president of a large company I tend to try and avoid as much…drama as possible. I do not make it a habit of pursuing a woman if there is someone already interested. I can assure you in case you did not notice it; Mr. Uchiha is _quite_ interested in you."

Her face began to burn hot. Well, she knew that Sasuke liked her, he had just admitted to it, but having someone else point it out as if it had been glaringly obvious was a little embarrassing.

"In any case," he continued "I find you to be a very fascinating, intelligent, and kind individual. My interest in you was not specifically romantic in nature. With that said, I would like to ask if perhaps we could reschedule, under a different pretense of course. If nothing else, I would love to simply get to know you and perhaps become friends." His tone held an amused tone to it "That is, if Mr. Uchiha doesn't mind, of course. I do not believe he enjoyed my company much."

She wanted to tell Gaara that it wasn't exactly what he was thinking, that if Sasuke hadn't found out his girlfriend had been cheating on him then the two of them would be going out, but she didn't. It didn't matter anyway, Gaara merely wanted to hold an association with her, the pretense irrelevant. It was nice to know that he wasn't upset or hurt. She was also happy that he still wanted to meet with her; she had liked being around him.

"I would love to have lunch with you another time Mr. Sabaku." She eventually responded "B-but I am sorry for canceling so late like this."

"It was a last minute offer, so it is understandable. I am normally up during these hours anyway, so you have not inconvenienced me." There was a small pause "Ah, there was something else I had wished to address to you, more of a professional topic than anything else."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I wanted to express how impressed I was with your knowledge and skills and that if for some reason Mr. Uchiha is foolish enough to release you from his employ, please contact me personally and I would be more than happy to have you come work for us."

"Ah…" Hinata put a hand to her face "T-thank you so much. I don't know what to say. I am very honored that you hold me under such high esteem."

"I was not the only individual who was impressed with your abilities tonight, Ms. Hyuuga. I believe I had heard quite a few mutterings of disgruntlement that you are working for Mr. Uchiha and not for them." Gaara paused and then she heard something low, a small chuckle "It would appear both Uchiha's are very fortunate men. In any case, it is late and I am sure you wish to get some rest. It has been my pleasure meeting you and making your acquaintance, Hinata. Please try to enjoy the rest of your morning." The phone clicked off as he hung up.

xxxxx

Sasuke was never known as a heavy sleeper; subtle sounds and odd noises would often rouse him. This time it wasn't a noise but rather a feeling. Someone was staring at him. It was somewhat of a weird sensation for him to have that feeling in his sleep so he willed himself to awaken.

The first thing that popped into his vision were big, pale silver eyes. He blinked once.

"Hi, Mr. Sasuke." Kenta said quietly, peeking at him from his squatted position on the ground. "Um, did you sleep over?"

Now, waking up did not always mean that he was _awake_, which was his current feeling as he looked at this little boy eye level to him for some reason he couldn't possibly fathom. Where was he? After a minute he blinked again and moved up into a sitting position, looking down at the boy. Sasuke put a hand on Kenta's head and yawned.

"Hn." Was Sasuke's initial answer, mostly because he was still groggy.

Something very strange crossed over the child's face, as if he looked distraught and curious at the same time. Standing up, he ducked his head.

"So, does that mean you're going to marry mama now?"

Sasuke went from groggy to fully awake in .05 seconds. He couldn't hide his surprise at the boy's bold question, his hand dropping from its position and back to his side. For a minute he stared at Kenta with this slightly shocked expression, although the boy never looked up to regard it.

"What?" the Uchiha asked ineloquently, still a little dazed by the question "What would give you that impression?"

Kenta shifted uncomfortably "You're the first guy mama's allowed to sleep over so…"

Motioning for the boy to move closer he picked Kenta up when he was in range and sat the boy on his lap, putting an arm around him. "Your mother and I aren't getting married, Kenta."

"Oh." The boy sounded disappointed "B-but you like mama, right?"

_This kid…not much gets by him does it?_ "Yeah."

"Really? Do you _like_ like mama?"

"Not sure what the difference is but sure."

Kenta began to lift his legs, doing some strange slow scissor kick movements. "So, does that mean you'll come over a lot, Mr. Sasuke?"

The arm tightened around the boy "Well, I'm usually very busy a lot of days, but when I can come visit I will. Is that alright?"

The boy nodded eagerly "I'm really glad because I like you a lot Mr. Sasuke. I don't _like_ like you though, that's gross." For effect his face scrunched up and he stuck his tongue out.

The man chuckled softly before he began to tickle the boy who let out a high pitched scream and began to wiggle uncontrollably, trying to get away. Eventually, Kenta slid down from Sasuke's lap and then backed away, face red and grinning.

"That's not fair!" he protested "You cheated!" Suddenly the boy turned his gaze to the staircase, his outstanding hearing picking up his mother's footsteps "Mama, Mr. Sasuke is cheating."

Sasuke launched forward and scooped Kenta up, throwing the boy over his shoulder. There was more child-like squealing and laughter. "You little tattle tale. Now you're going to have to stay up there forever."

This only made the boy laugh even harder "No! You can't do that! Mama! Mama help me!" he kept wiggling but Sasuke had a tight grip and the boy was partially hanging upside down.

Hinata smiled at the two of them as she walked from the stairs, holding her arms "Sasuke, please don't torment Kenta." She also sounded amused.

"Hey," Sasuke turned towards her with the giggling boy still half dangling "he started it. I'm the real victim here." Nonetheless, he slowly set the boy on his feet and the child immediately rushed behind his mother, a huge smile on his face, eyes bright.

"Kenta," Hinata began, looking down at her son "have you cleaned your room as I've asked yet?"

Knowing he couldn't lie, Kenta backed away from Hinata and shifted uncomfortably "No, mama."

Hinata let out a small sigh "Well, Mr. Sasuke is actually here today because he wanted to spend the day with you. You can go but you have to clean your room first."

"Really?" The boy looked at Sasuke "Did you really?"

Sasuke shrugged, putting his hand in his pockets and giving the kid a small smirk. "Yeah, kid. We can go wherever you want."

"Okay mama, I'll go clean my room right now okay?" the little boy sped off to his room and Hinata giggled, shaking her head lightly.

He took the two steps needed to close the distance between himself and Hinata, his arms coming around her waist and pulling her to him. Surprised, she looked up at him with a slightly confused expression.

"I just wanted to do this one last time." Sasuke murmured and dipped his head to kiss her.

They must have been standing there for a long while, because eventually they were broken apart when Kenta yelled 'Ew! Cooties!' and then laughed a bit when the boy ran back inside his room.

xxxxx

At work, both Hinata and Sasuke were praised for how the dinner went, although Itachi did make one comment on reconsidering allowing Hinata to go to another one if people didn't stop trying to make her quit and go work for them. After that the couple's relationship became very tame.

When the two were at work they exchanged small pleasantries if they saw each other in the halls but unless they had business with the other they did not interact, not even for lunches as they didn't want others to get the wrong idea. They did write many e-mails to each other, Sasuke specifically forwarding all of those annoying chain e-mails and lewd company jokes. When Hinata complained about it once he told her that if he had to suffer through them she would too and then sent her twenty forwards right afterwards just to prove his point. They did not use company time or company phones to call each other; their relationship was strictly platonic at work.

Outside of work Sasuke visited Hinata whenever he could or whenever she could fit him into her own busy schedule. Weekends were always the best times for them. It was always the three of them until Kenta's first grade year started and he would have to go do homework. Although the two adults spent a lot of time together outside of work when they could, Sasuke never approached Hinata again in an intimate way. He would not hold her or kiss her, the most he would allow himself to do would be to hold her hand or put an arm around her shoulders.

Their official status was that they were friends. Underneath it was a wordless expectation between them. It was mutually understood that they would not date others or become intimate with anyone else because the underlying 'it could happen' was between them. Even though he had promised her nothing, it was almost as if the two were simply waiting until it was the proper time to indulge in their feelings.

Sasuke spoke to Naruto only twice and that had been through e-mails. He ignored any calls from Sakura and deleted her number from his cell; if she wanted to talk she could e-mail him. It was going to take some time, a _long_ time, but Sasuke had admitted to Naruto at the last e-mail that he did not want their friendship to end in such a manner, just that he needed to be away from them for a while. He figured that it probably helped that he hadn't actually held any feelings for Sakura and that he had mostly been angry at the fact that they had kept the truth from him. The trust between the three was broken and Sasuke didn't feel that it would ever be the same, which actually made him a little disappointed at times.

He was on the fence when it came to what he wanted to do with Hinata. Sasuke didn't want to start a relationship with her unless he knew that he was going to want to go all the way with it, because Hinata _couldn't_ accept anything less. The more he was around mother and son the closer he felt to them and he often teetered back and forth on the subject. Marriage was simply a frightening thing to him, which was odd because he was a fairly faithful person to whoever he was with and didn't believe in leaving a relationship unless under extreme circumstances. Like being cheated on.

Another thing that kept him back was the fact that he really was starting to become very attached to Kenta; too much, he felt at times. This attachment made him want to hold out a little longer with Hinata, not wanting to decide to be with her because of her son. Not that he held no feelings for her, he did. In fact, sometimes he felt that he might even been feeling the dreaded 'L' word. He surmised a lot of it had to do with the fact that a large majority of his relationships hadn't really been based on him actually liking the female. Before Sakura he had at first went out clubbing and slept with anyone who would go home with him that night. He had thrown his money around because he had been a spoiled rich kid and did a lot of things he probably shouldn't have done between the ages of seventeen to nineteen. A lot of things.

After a while he had grown bored with just sleeping around, he had wanted to try something different. Sasuke would date girls that showed an interest in him and that he could actually stand to be around. None of the relationships lasted and all for varying reasons although he personally never felt any different about the girl from start to finish. The higher he started climbing up the corporate ladder the more he couldn't keep up with his girlfriends enough for their liking. Many of them accused him of cheating because of his late hours and how he would never allow them into his apartment.

The year he had turned twenty Sakura had approached him about wanting a relationship, claiming that she had been in love with him since they were kids. Now, he had known that Sakura had held feelings for him when they had been kids, he had just ignored it. Naruto loved Sakura and it had seemed to him like a recipe for drama. Besides, he had always felt that the two of them were better for each other.

In the end, all of his past relationships had been rather shitty, mostly due to his own inability to care about whether or not he felt anything romantically for the females in the first place. He couldn't recall a single relationship he had held where he had actually pursued the girl because he liked her. All of the girls he had dated had come to him, he hadn't had to do anything. Now he did like someone but wasn't sure if he wanted to make a commitment. He was aware of the irony concerning his situation.

Four months went by with him still undecided yet growing more and more attached to her and her son. All of his free time was with them unless Hinata couldn't manage it. He thought about them a lot when they weren't around. He thought about the words Gaara had said to him that night and when Hinata had told him about the conversation the two had held all those nights ago. Sasuke felt that Gaara was like him in a lot of ways; while he had misunderstood the reasons why Sasuke had been at Hinata's house that night, the philosophy Gaara held to was one Sasuke held to. If someone else was interested, back the hell off unless the girl chooses you. Sasuke often wondered what Gaara would have done in his shoes or if Sasuke hadn't found out about Sakura and Hinata went on to date the president. The redhead had made it clear that night at the party that if he were to get Hinata, she would not be going anywhere anytime soon.

"…_one would be a bigger fool if he had an opportunity and refused to take it."_

That was what Gaara had told him that night. So he wondered, was he being an idiot? Wasn't Hinata worth it? Was he just holding back because deep down he was afraid of being hurt again? Sasuke never wanted to feel the way he had that night ever again. Despite how he had kept his cool for the most part through heavy sarcasm and sheer willpower, he had been angry. He had been violently angry, and at his best friends. If he had continued to stay to try and listen to them he wasn't sure if he wouldn't have actually tried to hurt the both of them or not. Sasuke could fight but that didn't mean he wanted to hurt people he cared about and he had been borderline that night. Sometimes he would go 'If I ever caught Hinata cheating on me I'd probably kill them both' and it somewhat frightened him that he really did feel that way. Was it even worth it then? Was it worth the risk? Sasuke really cared for Hinata, he didn't want to hurt her for any reason.

With those thoughts he also felt that being afraid that Hinata would cheat on him if they got together was an insult to her. The woman had never even had a boyfriend before and he was pretty sure the girl was a virgin. She had gone out of her way to keep men out of her life because of her son, yet she had allowed him in. Him. Not his brother, not Gaara, him; Sasuke Uchiha. Shouldn't that mean something? Didn't that mean he should trust her? Then he thought about his own standards and how angry he had felt when Sakura had accused him of cheating and felt that he was doing the same thing to Hinata. He'd felt pretty hypocritical over the last four months trying to sort his shit out and it wasn't like he could talk to anyone about it. The only person he could think of would have been Kakashi but he hated going to that guy for anything. Normally if one went to Kakashi for any reason they always regretted it immediately afterwards.

Sasuke was currently thinking about perhaps actually taking her out on a date. Nothing serious, just spending time with her, doing something nice. As much as he cared for Kenta there were times when he just wanted to be around Hinata for a little while alone.

_Shit, I'm already starting to sound like a married man._

When Sasuke was out of the office due to meetings and such he received a phone call from Itachi. Although they only spoke for fifteen minutes, Sasuke found himself frustrated, angry, and confused. Itachi hadn't been very specific on certain parts, but had made himself very clear on others. The things he had made himself clear on started off as an annoyance. The more he sat on the words the angrier he became. By lunch Sasuke eventually sent Hinata a text message telling her to call him as soon as possible.

Then he thought about what his next move would be.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

xxxxx

It was early morning yet Hinata was already busy with various reports, notes, and requests from different clients. There were dozens of phone calls she would need to make to other companies in order to confirm certain dates for meetings or luncheons and then add those to her boss' schedule. Briefly, she wondered if she would need to ask her boss if she could hire her own assistant, as the workload was becoming increasingly overwhelming. She decided against it of course, mostly because she didn't want Itachi to believe that she couldn't handle her job properly. Hinata began to develop a better organizing system in her mind as she worked, deciding that her current system would no longer be sufficient with the growing workload.

There was the soft crackling sound of her intercom and her fingers froze over the keyboard.

"Ms. Hyuuga." Itachi's voice came in low but clear through the speaker. Looking at her watch she noticed that it was still quite early, for she had come in two hours before her shift to catch up on things. While it wasn't unusual for her boss to request her presence in the morning it was unusual for him to do so first thing; especially when she knew he had to leave for a meeting very soon. Slightly confused she reached over and informed him that she would be right there.

Grabbing her notepad and pen, she calmly walked into his rather massive office. It was darker than usual as he had the blinds to his large windows in the back closed; the only light coming from various lamps within the room. Itachi himself had been bent over some sort of paperwork but straightened as she entered the room.

For some reason the air in the room felt rather tense and a nervous sensation crept up along her back and she fought the urge to shudder.

"Sir?" she cut into the silence "You called for me?"

"Yes," he motioned for her to sit, the first time in five years. Her hands tightened their grip around her notepad and she politely declined. Whatever it was, she wanted to hear it while standing. He leaned back in his chair a bit and Hinata got the distinct impression that Itachi had purposefully darkened the room so she could not properly see his facial expressions. Which she couldn't, not as well as she normally would be able to. She fought the urge to shift uncomfortably.

"Is something the matter sir?" Came the gentle prod as she clutched her pad to her chest as if it were a shield.

"Ms. Hyuuga," his voice was calm and smooth and it put her on edge somehow "do you know what our policy is concerning inter-company relationships?"

Frowning slightly, Hinata was glad for the darkness, lest he fully see the strange expression she was giving him "From my understanding of it the company does not forbid it. There are exceptions, such as when a relationship could be considered along the lines of fraternization; ah, a conflict of interest for the company. An example would be a supervisor dating someone under them or an executive involving themselves with a temp or trainee. Um, I suppose you could say the company doesn't forbid it but discourages it all the same."

"That is correct, more or less." Silence settled over the room and this time Hinata did shift uncomfortably. "There are other stipulations, however, most of them lead to the fact that the higher in position an individual is within the company the more it is discouraged for them to date within the company at all. It is more of a silent agreement than anything else, executives normally do not date executives, things of that nature."

Hinata continued to remain silent for a moment, not entirely sure where her boss was going with the conversation. "Sir? I'm not sure I understand."

"To be completely honest with you I must admit that were I not the older sibling of my most recent executive I never would have noticed the change." Before she was able to say anything he continued "However, as Sasuke's older brother, it was glaringly obvious on his part. Might I ask when the relationship between you two changed? I am assuming it was sometime after the dinner party the two of you attended."

She was stunned and so for a moment she merely stood there, mouth slightly open. "I-I…sir we…we're not involved in that manner. But yes, after the party w-we became friends. He um, he stops by from time to time to spend time with my son, they're very attached to each other."

"Really?" He sounded genuinely surprised. "I thought Sasuke despised children. So you are friends. For the moment."

It wasn't hard to understand what he was implying "We're not…opposed to i-it maybe becoming something more in the future but..." she let the sentence trail off.

"Ah, I see. And you definitely hold feelings for my brother?"

Hinata bit her lip "Y-yes…sir…are you trying to tell me that we're not allowed to date each other?"

"Hm? No, nothing of the sort. I was merely…concerned. While it would possibly be frowned upon, there is nothing truly wrong with the two of you having a relationship. You two are considered on an executive level, equals in a way, but you do not work together and one is not over the other. There is no conflict of interest."

Well, that was a relief "So you're not…going to fire me or anything?"

She was sure he was giving her a look. "Ms. Hyuuga, I am not in the habit of committing random acts of stupidity. I hold no intentions of firing you or demoting my brother. I am simply…surprised by the news." He began to stand, glancing at his watch.

_Surprised?_

"I must depart if I am to make my meeting," he said off-handedly, reaching for his briefcase. "I will return for lunch and will remain for the rest of the day."

"W-wait, sir?" Confusion filled her "You were surprised?"

"Unpleasantly so," he admitted. When he reached her he placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned down to speak in her ear. "I was surprised to learn that out of the two Uchiha, you picked the younger one." With that he smoothly strode from the room, the door closing with a soft click.

Hinata stood there for perhaps five full minutes before she moved again, her eyes wide, heart pounding. Shakily, she wobbled back into her office and sat down at her desk, staring blankly at her computer screen.

_Did that…did that really just happen? D-did my boss just tell me in a roundabout way that he liked me?_

When she first started at the company her relationship with Itachi had been rather stiff and overly cordial, mostly because she was trying to get used to everything and establish a working system. It had also taken her a while to understand the subtleties of her boss, as he was a man of few words and even less concerning facial expressions.

Perhaps two years ago Hinata noticed that Itachi had seemed to 'relax' around her. He had invited her to countless corporate dinners as his guest – to which she had refused all of them – and his tone had become lighter around her. He would, in his own Itachi-like way, tease her to the point of borderline flirting. Hinata had never thought much about it, because beyond the occasional teasing he was extremely professional around her. Besides, why would the president of a major company be interested in an uneducated, poor girl like her? Not once had she ever taken his small comments toward and about her seriously; she had always thought he had been joking around.

Around lunch hour - although two hours before she took her own lunch - a buzzing noise came from her bag. Pulling out her cell phone she noticed she had a text message from Sasuke that only said 'Call Me'. There was a heavy feeling in her chest, had Itachi spoken to Sasuke as well? Did something happen? Immediately she dialed his number.

"Hey," his voice sounded slightly distant and she thought she could hear muffled sounds of cars going by. "It's me. Did Itachi speak to you today?"

Well, that confirmed her suspicions "Um…yes."

Silence. "Was he upset when he spoke to you?"

"Um, I don't think so…" she thought back to the last thing he had said to her and ignored the burning in her cheeks. "W-well, maybe a little. I think. He was definitely acting strangely."

"Don't tell me what he said." there was something different about his tone that piqued her curiosity "Itachi called me a little while ago and…reminded me of a motto the Uchiha try to stand by. I'll give you more details later over dinner."

What? "Dinner?"

"Oh yeah," the way he said it sounded as if he had various intentions "tonight. I'll pick you up at seven."

A bit of hesitation."I-I don't think I can do that Sasuke. What about Kenta?"

"I'll hire a babysitter." He said matter-of-factly "I mean, you do know what one is right?"

She frowned slightly "Of course I do."

"Then why don't you ever hire one? Is it because you don't like going out without him?"

"I-" she stopped, sitting back in her chair as she came to a sudden realization. For the past five years, whenever someone asked her to go somewhere or do something personal, she had always fallen back on the excuse that she had to take care of her son, or that she had things to do during the evenings that she couldn't pull away from. She could have easily hired a babysitter and with the money she was making now hiring one wouldn't be a problem at all.

_Have I…have I been using Kenta as a shield?_

The thought did not make her happy. The first few years were understandable as Kenta had been very small and she had wanted to be around for him. Now he was almost six years old, she really didn't have an excuse as to why she shouldn't get a babysitter for him. Hinata felt horrible for her actions; using her son to avoid personal encounters felt wrong. Not only that, she wanted to be around Sasuke not avoid him.

"No," she responded "No, a babysitter is fine."

"I'll make sure they're good," he assured her. "So I'll come to pick you up at seven and…" there was a long pause.

"Sasuke?" she inquired "Why did you suddenly stop talking?"

There was silence for a few more moments before he sighed rather loudly "I know I'm going to really hate myself for this but I have to ask, besides that dress you wore to the party, do you have any others? A cocktail dress or something you would wear to go out to a fancy restaurant with?"

"I-" Hinata bit her lip and almost scooted down in her chair, as if it would protect her from what she knew was going to happen next. "No. I don't."

Dead silence. She couldn't even hear the muffled cars in the background anymore. She had expected an onslaught from him about her lack of fashion sense but he didn't speak.

"S-Sasuke?"

"…That's it." He suddenly said "That's it, I'm done. I can't take this anymore; it's ridiculous. Today, I am going to buy you a dress, I know just the one, and I will be by at five instead of seven. Now, look at your calendar and pick a date. Weekday or weekend I don't give a damn, just pick a day before the end of the month. On that day I am taking you out and I'm going to buy you a new wardrobe because I can't take your horrible fashion sense any longer."

"I don't have horrible fashion sense!" she protested, sitting up in her chair "Please take that back."

Another sigh "Okay, fine. You have outstanding fashion sense. For a thirty year old mother with three kids, a husband, and a dog."

This was the first time Sasuke had outright spoken about her clothes. He had dropped hints here and there over the last four months and she had ignored him because she liked her clothes thankyouverymuch. His accusations were appalling to her "That's not true Sasuke, you're just picky."

"Hinata, you are twenty three years old and you dress like you're thirty. I get that you're a mom and all but you _can_ dress like your age sometimes. You have a hot body that you hide behind long skirts and shirts." It sounded as if he had shuddered at the last part "And yeah, the elitist rich boy snob in me can't take the insult to my delicate sensibilities any longer. So we're going and _I'm_ picking out the outfits because we both know if you do it it'll just be tragic and sad."

"You're…you're being really mean!" she snapped but she was also trying not to giggle. "And if I let you pick out my clothes they'll all be really form fitting and revealing."

"I am failing to see where the problem is in your statement." He deadpanned.

This time Hinata sighed "Sasuke, you're being really...really prissy."

"Weren't you raised in the same society as me? How do you live with yourself? And I'm not _prissy_ I just have high standards when it comes to certain things and this is one of them. As a matter of fact, all of us Uchiha are like that, even Itachi. Especially Itachi."

Imagining Itachi complaining about fashion seemed rather off to her. "Mr. Uchiha doesn't seem like the kind of person that would be into material things like that."

"Hinata, if you think I'm bad, he's ten times worse. The only difference between us is that I'm outspoken and he hides it behind subtlety."

"That…that just doesn't seem right to me. I-I know he's your brother but um, over these past few years it seems to me that he's a very kind and humble person."

There was an audible snort "You are the only person in the world that has used the words 'Itachi' and 'humble' in the same sentence."

"Maybe you're not giving him enough credit, he might have changed." Hinata insisted.

There was a long, pregnant pause "Care to make a wager on that?"

"Huh?" She asked dumbly.

"A bet. You think my brother isn't as bad as me when it comes to fashion and the like. So let's make a bet on it."

Hinata was in a rock and a hard place and she knew it. Gambling was not something she liked to do. If she rejected the bet it would look like Sasuke was right and that she didn't have enough faith in her boss. If she took the bet who knew what the stakes would be?

"W-what kind of wager?" she asked nervously.

"Here's the deal. Today, after you leave for work, I'm going to send Itachi those pictures I still have of you or with you and Kenta. I bet in three days he'll either comment or do something in regards to your clothes. To be honest, I'm giving it three days as a courtesy to you; I know he's going to say or do something tomorrow at _least_."

"How much money did you want to put on it? I-I can't do a large amount I-"

"I have no need for money." He cut off "If you win, I will become your personal slave for a month. Cooking, cleaning, hell, I'll even rub your feet every night. By the way, I can promise you that Itachi's probably never even seen a dust pan before, much less know what to do with it and he's a shitty cook. Anyway, if _I_ win, you have to pose for me in an outfit of my choosing."

A heavy feeling of foreboding came over her and she could feel her ears beginning to burn "Lingerie?"

"Maybe." Sasuke said coolly. "You know, you're getting the better end of the deal here. You get a slave for a month and I get to see you for like what, an hour? There's also the fact that when Itachi reacts to the pictures I'm almost positive he's going to have a few words to say to me about allowing you to go out like that while in your company."

Hinata didn't want to admit to herself that she didn't believe in her boss. Itachi had been very kind to her over the years and his personality and actions didn't seem to match up with what Sasuke seemed so confident on. She was going to stick with her opinion. "O-okay. It's a deal."

She heard a low chuckle "I hope you like lace Hinata, because I certainly do." He hung up.

xxxxx

Initially she had planned to stick around until late to try and get ahead but decided she would probably need to take a personal day to get ready in time. When she went to Itachi about it he was very accommodating, so at around three pm she found herself walking into her little house. It was strange to her to enter an empty home; there was always Kenta around or something was going on. It actually made her feel a little lonely, so she quickly went upstairs and decided she would take a long bath.

Hinata really wanted to kick Sasuke in the shins like Kenta had when they first met. So she wasn't the best dressed person in the world, he didn't have to say that she dressed as if she were thirty. Or that she had horrible fashion sense. Her outfits always matched and they were simple because she was a simple person. And he had been serious! Of course some of what he had said had been funny to her because he could be so ridiculous, but really!

She soaked until her fingers started to wrinkle and then went to go blow dry her hair. Looking at the clock she noticed she had been in for almost forty-five minutes and Kenta would be home soon. Normally he would wait at the center for her if she was working late, but she called the school and had asked for someone to tell her son that he could take the bus home instead.

Dressing in her 'awful' clothes – she should really give that man a piece of her mind – she walked out to meet her son at the bus stop. He was excited to see his mother home early and began to prattle off about his day which had consisted of learning some basic math problems, reading, and coloring.

"Oh yeah mama, I gotta project tomorrow and they want me to bring in some stuff."

"Hm?" Hinata regarded her son "What sort of things?"

"Um…" the child looked thoughtful "Markers, scissors, crayons, and a ruler…I think."

"Those are things they ask all parents to get their children at the beginning of the year. What are they doing with…" she sighed in slight frustration. "Never mind. Alright, let's get your book bag inside and we'll walk to the corner store."

So they walked over to the corner store and picked out the items Kenta had mentioned, along with a few others that he had thought would be 'really cool' and Hinata hadn't really seen the harm in getting them. She held his hand as they walked home although Kenta was being very energetic; He moved his arms and feet in wide movements. As they rounded the corner to their little section of the neighborhood she immediately spotted a black car sitting outside of her house. Looking at her watch she noticed that he was almost thirty minutes early. When they were close enough Sasuke emerged, already dressed with a stylish dark purple shirt and dark color pants. Hinata was sure that the shirt alone had probably cost him a hundred dollars.

"Hey," he remarked as they approached. Walking over to his trunk he opened it and pulled out a large fancy bag. "Your outfit."

"Hi, Mr. Sasuke!" Kenta was at the man's side immediately, almost clinging. With his free hand Sasuke affectionately ruffled his hair.

"Hey, kid."

Secretly dreading what he could have possibly come up for her she invited him inside the house. Giving Kenta his supplies and telling him to put them right into his book bag she reached over and took the bag Sasuke had in his hand with a worried look.

"Am I…is this going to be…" she tried to get out.

"Who do you think you're dealing with here?" he responded, as if genuinely offended "Go try it on and see for yourself. I already called the agency and they said the babysitter would be by a little after five."

While Hinata was upstairs she once heard Kenta announce loudly that he had finished his homework to Sasuke, to which she couldn't hear the response to. Still a little huffy, she pulled out the dress and started.

It was the black dress that she had tried on before the dinner, the one that they had both liked but had agreed that it wasn't appropriate with the setting. It was sleeveless and almost backless, but she figured it was a lot more conservative than whatever else he would have picked out for her. Slipping into the slinky dress she was surprised to realize that he had memorized her size, as it was a perfect fit. The fastener for the neck that held the dress up in the front was a little difficult to manage so it had taken her a little while to get the hang of it. She looked at herself in the mirror afterwards, noting how the dress was snug in the front to flare out past the hips, settling a little above her knees. It definitely looked like a dress one wore to go dancing in.

Hinata debated on what she wanted to do with her hair. Last time she had worn her hair up for the dinner but keeping it down didn't seem to look too bad with the dress. Deciding to on the option to keep her hair down she sat, using a blow dryer and a curling brush to give the ends a little volume. It was only a little after five when the doorbell rang – right on time – so she went with only a light gloss on her lips and a light application of eye shadow for makeup. Since the dress was black she went with darker colored pantyhose and headed downstairs.

She could hear the sounds of the babysitter and Sasuke below. When she finally made it down the babysitter was walking towards Kenta's room. Hinata turned to say something to Sasuke and then stopped. He was leaning against the armrest of the couch with his arms crossed, but that wasn't really what had given her pause. His gaze was dark and intense on her as he slowly trailed his eyes up and then back down her body. She felt a small shiver down her spine.

"Looks good." Was all he said, his voice low. With a blink he nodded his head to the babysitter "They told me that she's the best at her age. I didn't want to get an old lady and bore your kid to tears so this girl is sixteen."

"What were you two talking about?" she said softly, closing the distance between them.

"Nothing much. Just to make sure she doesn't bring any boyfriends or have any parties or whatever while we were gone. Or else."

Her eyes widened "You threatened the babysitter?" she asked incredulously.

He rolled his eyes. "I didn't threaten her, I informed her of the things she shouldn't do around ou- your son."

Something crossed over Sasuke's features at his slip up and she tried to keep her expression neutral although she had picked it up herself. A part of her was happy that he was beginning to care about him that much, but looking at his face, it didn't seem as if _he_ were happy with it. Hinata tried not to sigh.

At the mention of her the babysitter turned and flashed Hinata a bright smile. Her outfit consisted of a pink baby tee with a symbol she didn't recognize, cut off jean shorts with black and pink stockings underneath. She had blonde hair that was heavily layered and rested at the nape of her neck.

She moved to open her mouth when Kenta rushed out of the room, some sort of speech ready on his lips until he saw the girl and stopped.

"H-hello." The child said quietly, his face beginning to turn a small shade of red "Who are you?"

The teenager bent down "My name is Helena and I'm going to spend some time with you while your mom and dad go out for a few hours."

Sasuke visibly stiffened and shifted uncomfortably. Hinata felt herself growing a little nervous as well; they weren't even dating and now this girl thought they were married with a kid.

"I've brought a few games with me," Helena continued "but if you have some games you'd like to play we could do that too."

Kenta's eyes lit up and he looked at his mother "Can I play games mama? I finished my homework."

Giggling, Hinata nodded "Yes, it's fine." She looked up at Helena "Thank you for coming on such short notice."

The girl shrugged and didn't looked bothered in the slightest "It's not a problem, Mrs. Uchiha. Kenta and I are going to have some fun, right?" she looked down at the boy who agreed whole heartedly, his shyness gone now that he was going to get to play.

This time both of the adults stiffened and exchanged uncomfortable looks with each other. This girl really did think they were married.

"Uh, yeah." Sasuke said flatly, shifting uncomfortably again. He coughed "Let's go Hinata."

xxxxx

Insanity. He was sure that he had entered a realm of insanity. There was no other explanation for his actions.

When Hinata had first come down the stairs he had been unable to take his eyes off of her; he was beginning to hold a strange fascination with her legs. A few emotions went through him upon seeing her and not all of them had been sexual in nature. It had taken him a lot to remember that he was trying to keep his distance for now.

When the babysitter called him Kenta's father two clear emotions had rang out. The first one had been fear; he was not a father and wasn't sure if he ever wanted to be one. To him, being 'dad' made him feel as if his bachelorhood was slowly being destroyed and he still wasn't sure if he wanted to give up his lifestyle.

The second emotion, the one that was bothering him the most, was pleased. It had made a part of him happy to be considered Kenta's father – even though he never would be – and that was very, very disturbing. He liked the kid, he thought the little boy was great to be around; but loving him as his son? That didn't exactly feel right to him. He didn't even _like_ children. Sasuke began to worry that he was becoming too attached yet at the same time a part of him didn't care so much. In short, he was very conflicted.

When she called Hinata his wife he had felt something catch in his throat. Probably a denial. He had felt as if the teenager had completely stripped apart his bachelor status and he was left struggling with the pieces. Looking over at Hinata while he drove them to their destination, he wondered what it was he truly felt for her. He didn't ever think he would be able to marry her, marriage was just too _final_ to him; although he was sure at this point that whatever it was he felt wasn't just a fleeting emotion.

Over the past four months Sasuke had spent quite a bit of time around Hinata and her son. He enjoyed it when they went out to simple places like the park or the beach. He loved the sound of Hinata's laughter, he loved how her face would light up when she smiled, he loved how cute she looked when he teased or embarrassed her. Often he would find himself wanting to just put his arms around her and just hold her. Lately he had wanted to get Hinata out and alone with him because as much as he cared for Kenta, he also liked just being around her and the opportunities were few and far between. She was intelligent and kind, she never raised her voice and she was very good at keeping her son in line. Sasuke always looked forward to hearing her voice over the phone or seeing her. Whenever they weren't around he felt a little empty; this was especially true when he would walk into his large apartment and felt more like a stranger than the owner. Whenever he was home he would wonder if Hinata would like his place or think it to be too impersonal and stuffy, which it really was if he were honest with himself. The fact that he wanted to _bring_ Hinata to his apartment spoke volumes; he had never allowed another woman into his apartment, not even Sakura.

So what did that all mean? He wasn't entirely sure.

A cool hand slid over his and he spared a quick glance at Hinata. She held a sad and worried expression.

"I'm sorry she made you uncomfortable…" she began

"Don't worry about it." He reassured "It was an honest mistake, especially since I had been the one who called. I'm not angry."

"Oh." She turned to face the front, her brows furrowed still.

That was a look he didn't enjoy seeing on her face. Gently he brushed some of her hair behind her ear, keeping his eyes on the road.

"It's fine, Hinata. Really."

When her face lightened up a bit he put his hand back on the stick shift, needing to shift gears now that they were at their destination. His thoughts shifted back to Itachi and what he had told him earlier in the day and he frowned slightly, thoughtful. He thought about how his brother was over thirty, single, and married to his job. He thought about how he didn't want that for himself. He thought about how he seemed to have everything sitting out for him. He thought once again about Gaara's words that night at the dinner. Finally, he thought about what he wanted to do with his life, about his bachelor's status and what mattered to him. He came to the realization that in a lot of ways he was running away from his fears and felt a little disgusted with himself. Uchiha didn't _run_ from their fears.

All within a five minute period his mind quickly went through all of the thoughts and emotions and he decided that regardless of his decision he would not run from his fears anymore. By the time they entered the restaurant he had come to a conclusion.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: **Big brothers are jerks. Especially very vain big brothers. I'm just saying.

xxxxx

**Chapter Nine**

xxxxx

Because it was Sasuke, the place he picked out was extremely high class and a popular hangout for the rich and famous. The place was called 'Kakumei' meaning 'Revolution' in Japanese. It had a heavily modernized style with an 'Asian feel' to it; a long strip of glass ran along the inside perimeter, decorated with gravel and shrubbery and held genuine koi fish inside. There were two stories with glass stretching from the left and directly in front, giving an overview of the city below. Little lights were all over the place, specifically the stairs leading up. There was a small dance floor surrounding the stage, which was massive and circular in appearance with tiers that enabled you to actually walk up or down it. There was currently a live band setting up, all of them nicely dressed. It was still early so the place wasn't full yet but Hinata still felt intimidated by it all. She had never been one for fancy places because it had always felt stuffy sometimes even tense.

Something warm touched her lower back and she looked over at Sasuke who was gently guiding her to the hostess.

"Hello," the girl – she couldn't have been any older than seventeen – smiled brightly at them. She was wearing a blue and silver cheongsam that stopped rather high up on her thighs. "Do you have a reservation?"

Hinata's date reached for his back pocket "No." it was said flatly although his expression was perfectly neutral.

The girl's smile immediately melted into a 'oh I'm so sorry' expression "I'm sorry sir but Kakumei seating is through reservation –"

Sasuke handed her something that Hinata thought looked like an ID card. "I think you have a table for us. Second floor, if you don't mind."

The hostess blinked at the card and then looked up at him. Looked at the card, back up at him. Her face turned a shade as bright and shocking as her from-a-bottle-red hair. "Omigosh, yes of course Mr. Uchiha, we um…" she looked down at her seating chart for a second before reaching for the menus "Please, right this way."

What just happened? The Hyuuga looked up at her date but he kept his gaze forward, his hand still at her lower back. They were seated near the corner – which held the best view in Hinata's opinion – and were handed menus and told their waiter would be with them shortly before hastily walking away.

"Um…" her pale eyes clouded with slight confusion at Sasuke who had decided he wanted to look out the window instead of face her.

"Itachi basically owns this place," he explained "he's a silent partner but he's the one who put in the larger investment. There's actually quite a few small businesses that he partially owns on the side, this is one of them."

That explained things "Oh, I see. So that's why she reacted like that."

He turned to her then, a small smile on his face "I think she was new, most people know us by sight when we come in here. I haven't been here in a while though."

The waiter arrived with wine menus and asked them what they would like to drink and if they would like any appetizers.

"Water," the Uchiha remarked "and I'm good on the appetizer."

"Ah, the same please." She handed him the wine menu and he took Sasuke's as well.

"I'll return shortly with your drinks," he looked at Sasuke "Welcome, Mr. Uchiha. It is always a pleasure to serve your family."

The waiter was given a noncommittal grunt from Sasuke as he looked over the menu. With a quick bow he walked away. By the time he returned with their glasses of water they already knew what they wanted and placed their orders.

"Alright," her date began "I don't like beating around the bush so you go first. What did my brother say to you?"

Hinata gave him a recap of the encounter from earlier. When she had finished, Sasuke's neutral expression turned into one of slight confusion.

"Are you sure that's what he said?" he inquired "He actually said that he was okay with us being together? Are you absolutely positive of this?"

"What?" she started, a little surprised and confused by his reaction. "Didn't he say the same thing to you?"

It was almost as if he hadn't heard her ask the question. Clasping his hands together he leaned on them, looking very thoughtful "Why would he tell you one thing and then turn around and say something completely different to me?" it was said low, as if to himself "That doesn't make any sense."

Itachi had said something different? "What did he say?" she tried to ask again.

Dark eyes flickered to her face and he sat up, crossing his arms "We Uchiha go by a specific code when we come to work for the company. It's nothing written in stone but it is expected that we follow it."

Delicate brows furrowed slightly "A code?"

"Business before pleasure." He answered "Basically, if you're an Uchiha and you work in the company you _do not_ date anyone within the company. It's mostly to keep potential drama out of the workplace but it doesn't mean anyone would directly stop someone, because they legally can't."

"I suppose I can see the logic in that," she said "because you're Uchiha it's expected that you uphold to the highest standards."

A short nod "Something like that, yeah. My brother had called today to express his…disappointment at my failure to behave properly as an Uchiha and that I should make sure I evaluate my decisions properly next time. There's more, of course, but basically he bitched me out; he wasn't even subtle about it. I don't understand why he would tell you that he was fine with everything yet tell me something different. He's normally not that wishy-washy."

Their food arrived and the waiter refilled their glasses of water. The two sat in silence, Sasuke contemplative and Hinata confused. Why would her boss tell her that he was fine with the two of them possibly dating yet tell Sasuke that he, basically, strongly disapproved? It made her very uncomfortable; she was fine with expanding on their relationship when Sasuke was ready but not if it would get him into a tiff with his brother. The last thing she wanted to do was cause problems.

There seemed to be some light to Sasuke's cloud of confusion, for he looked up at her as if he were slowly coming to a conclusion. "Hinata, when did Itachi start acting strange around you? The flirting and everything."

"Oh, um…" she put a finger to her lips "I want to say two years ago?"

"And you never once went to any of the dinners he invited you to?"

She wasn't sure where he was going with his line of questioning "No. N-not really."

He sat in contemplation for a minute longer before a smile broke out; the realization dawning on him. Sasuke actually started laughing "So _that's_ what it is. And here I thought it was something really serious." His laughter quieted down into soft chuckles.

Hinata wanted to know "What? What is it?"

Tilting his head Sasuke raised an eyebrow "Do you really want to know? You seem to have this saint-like perception of my brother and this would probably shatter some of those beliefs."

She gulped and after a moment, nodded. Hinata didn't really want to think ill of her boss, especially not after everything he had done for her in the past five years, but natural curiosity was a powerful thing. "I- yes…I want to know."

He shrugged "Remember, you asked. The short and sweet version of the situation is that my brother was being a dick."

A few rapid blinks was her initial response "W-what?"

"The situation is mostly directed at me and you'd think at his age he'd be less petty, but whatever. My brother has, I'm assuming, liked you for two years. Unfortunately, you work for him and as president of the company he _cannot_ date anyone within because it would be a conflict of interest automatically. I don't really know what he expected you to do eventually but I'm pretty sure he wanted you to recuperate his feelings."

That made no sense to her. "B-but if he can't date within the company then that means I would have to quit, and he doesn't want me to stop working for him. So why would he -?"

He held up a hand to stop her "Don't try to understand the inner workings of Itachi's mind. He makes sense only to himself a lot of times; I guess it's a genius thing. Anyway, all of a sudden the two of us meet and within four months he figures out that you are interested in me, not him. He's been trying for two years, it took me four months. It pissed him off; he probably even felt insulted that you would choose me over him, he's arrogant like that."

"But why would he tell you one thing and me another?"

"What he told you is true, he won't do anything and he really is fine with us dating, although disappointed. The only reason he called me and said what he did was his roundabout way of telling me to 'go fuck myself' for winning you over. I think the last time he did something like that was when I was twelve or seventeen. More than likely he probably did like you a considerable bit and was frustrated, so he took it out on me."

"But that's…" Hinata looked down, feeling mixed. A part of her felt bad for not realizing the situation sooner – although she still didn't think she would have returned his feelings anyway – and a part of her felt more surprised than anything else. Obviously, she did not understand her boss as well as she thought she did. If Sasuke was right then it really was petty for Itachi to do something like that. It seemed so off and out of character for him.

"Hinata," he waited until he had her attention "Don't sweat over it too much. Itachi doesn't dwell on situations. He said what he felt like saying and he'll never bring it up again unless you tell him to. He won't act any differently to you either, although I'm not sure if he'll keep flirting with you or not. As far as my brother is concerned, the issue is already past him. He won't do anything else."

She wasn't sure if she should be relieved by that. Was this some sort of brother rivalry thing? Picking at her food she let out a soft sigh. Being around Sasuke was showing her another side to Itachi, one that completely went against the way he presented himself. It was rather disconcerting.

Sasuke suddenly stood up and walked over to her, holding out his hand "Come on, let's dance. I never got to at the dinner."

Slowly, Hinata put her hand in his and he helped her out of the chair. The waiter came by and asked them about dessert, to which Sasuke informed him that they would decide after they were done dancing. The music in the background was beautiful, slow and smooth. There were a few other couples dancing already which made Hinata feel more comfortable. She didn't like it when it seemed like she was the center of attention. Still holding her hand he gently pulled her to him and they began to dance.

"Hey," he remarked, bending down to murmur in her ear "don't be mad at Itachi. It's not like he's a bad person, just incredibly vain like all of us Uchiha are."

She shook her head lightly "No, I'm not mad. I'm really surprised, but not angry. I guess it was just a small argument between siblings."

The hand around her waist pulled her closer. "Pretty much. Don't worry, it's not like I didn't get him back. The whole reason I set up this dinner was because he knew I would do it to get back at him and it was my own version of 'go fuck yourself'. Knowing him, he probably thinks it's funny."

Giggling, she moved close enough to lightly rest her head on his shoulder; easier now that she had on heels. "Well, he did seem a little amused when I asked him for a personal day. You know, I think you've said a few times that you two weren't always close but it seems like you understand each other very well."

"Hn." His hand slowly slid up her back "It's because we're pretty much exactly alike. We seem so different because of the way we approach a situation but the end result is usually the same."

"So then, you two really are close, right? To be able to understand each other so well."

"Yeah." His head moved into the crook of her neck and they danced like that for a whole song before he spoke again. "Hey, Hinata?"

"Mmhm?" her eyes were closed and she was enjoying the feel of his hand on her back and the warmth of his body. He had a definite masculine scent to him but she couldn't tell what or where it was from.

"These past four months…" he paused "I've been doing a lot of thinking. About us."

Lifting her head she glanced at him as he straightened to look down at her. She ignored the heat creeping along her face "What…what about it?" her heart was pounding and she found herself holding a breath. Sasuke was the first guy she had allowed into her little world and she found herself caring deeply for him.

He dipped his head back along the crook of her neck "I've been thinking about all of the things that we've done together, about Sakura and Naruto, about some things people have said to me. I've been thinking about why I keep holding back even though I've never had a problem jumping into a relationship before."

"That's understandable," she reasoned "you had something horrible happen to you, people don't just instantly recover from it."

"Yeah, I get that. But then I thought back to that night when Sakura tried to accuse me of cheating on her."

There was a small gasp "Really?"

"It's not something I haven't heard before from other girls; basically it's hard for them to believe that I'm actually working the long hours I say I do. I don't know if she really meant it or if she was just trying to lash out at me, but the point is that I remember how I _felt_ when I had been accused of cheating. I felt angry and insulted. So if one of the reasons I'm keeping you at a distance is because I'm afraid you'll cheat on me then I'm pretty much doing to you what Sakura did to me. That's not the only reason but it was the main one. I don't like being afraid of anything and I sure as hell don't allow myself to continue to be afraid and run from an issue but that was what I was doing."

They moved in silence for a bit before she spoke up "I thought the main reason was because being with me would tie you down…or at least you felt that way."

"I dated Sakura for three years and I didn't even like her," he commented "so obviously my issue isn't with commitment. The difference is that with her I knew it wasn't going to get any deeper. With her I was able to keep up with my bachelor lifestyle. It wouldn't be like that with you; if I decide to be with you, I have to look at it as a permanent thing. I could no longer be a bachelor and I like the freedom it gives me."

"Well, that's fine –"

"However," he continued "I also hadn't minded being alone if Sakura ever broke up with me. Separate or together made no difference to me. When I'm not with you I notice it. When I'm in my apartment it feels empty and I feel empty. I _want_ to be around you and Kenta, I don't enjoy not being around you two, so why am I holding on to my bachelorhood if it's not making me happy anymore? I have no intentions of being with anyone else but you so continuing to hold back seems stupid at this point. I'm not fond of feeling like I'm being stupid."

"Um, so are you asking me to be your girlfriend?" shyly, she looked down a bit before looking back up, a small smile playing on her features.

A small smirk "Yeah. I don't think I'd ever want to go anywhere, so I don't see the point if we both want to be together. I don't really know about marriage or –"

She shook her head "I never said you had to marry me, or force yourself to make any commitments to me and Kenta. People don't have to be married to stay together."

"Huh." He made a small sound "I thought all girls wanted to get married and have a family and all that crap."

Another giggle "I have Kenta and I love him very much. I wouldn't mind having a child of my own one day but it's not necessary. And really, all marriage is the legalization of a couple being together on a permanent basis and that's not really necessary either if the two of us know we want to stay together indefinitely. I'll be happy just being with you."

He looked a little impressed. "Hn. I can live with that."

"Um, so does this mean I'm your girlfriend now?" she asked the question softly, almost shyly.

"If you want to be."

Hinata nodded "Yes, I'd really like that."

Another song picked up and this time quite a few people began to walk out to the dance floor. Sasuke pulled Hinata close enough for them to almost be embracing each other.

"You know, if we leave now we'd still have two hours before we'd have to return. Come to my apartment with me."

If Sasuke hadn't had the grip on her that he did, she would have backed away from him. Instead she was only able to lean back, her eyes wide, face hot. "I-I'm not s-sure if…" she stammered out.

He gave her a look "That's _not_ what I'm asking for. Pervert." When her face brightened and she ducked her head he smirked "I just want to spend some time alone with you. Whenever we're together it's with Kenta. The kid's great and all but sometimes I just want you. When you first came over with Kenta there was something I had wanted to show you but forgot. I think you'd like it."

She relaxed "That sounds nice. Your apartment is very big though, almost as big as my house."

A shrug "It's served me well these past few years. By the way, just like I'm the only man you've allowed in your house, you're the only woman I've allowed in my apartment."

"What? Really?"

"I didn't trust any of the girls I dated and Sakura was the jealous type so that included her. Women tend to get nosey when they think a guy is cheating on them and they'll use anything they find against you, regardless of what its true meaning could be. It just seemed like a waste of time."

"Oh…" that sounded so sad to her. Why be with a person if you weren't going to trust and believe in them?

"So what about it? Will you come back to my apartment with me?" When she nodded he pulled away from her but kept hold of her hand. They headed back to their table and Sasuke reached into his pocket, pulling out a rather large wad of cash. Taking a generous amount off the top he tossed it on the table, they picked up their things and walked out.

xxxxx

He didn't turn on the main lights when they entered his apartment but he didn't need to. Straight ahead were two large screen doors, the blinds pulled back with moonlight seeping in. Sasuke shrugged out of his jacket, tossing it carelessly along the arm rest of his leather sofa. Dark eyes took in his girlfriend who currently had her back turned to him, looking at some painting that he was sure had been there when he moved in. His gaze traveled down to her round hips and the way her black dress flared out almost as if it were teasing him. Her legs – he was beginning to obsess over her legs – were dark instead of the normal pale due to her pantyhose. Despite that, they gave her legs a sleek, sexy look and the heels had only added to the appeal.

_You said you'd behave._ He reminded himself as he slowly closed the distance between them. There was a bit of an internal struggle; it wasn't often that he saw her dressed in such a manner and whenever she did it was as if her sex appeal had increased tenfold. It became a little difficult to think about anything besides how he'd like to dip his hands underneath her dress, and that was for starters.

She needed to face him, or he'd probably do something he'd regret; looking at her from behind was _not_ helping. When he reached her he gently turned her to face him, pulling her close. Hinata's arms moved around his neck and she smiled up at him innocently, eyes shining. Mentally he groaned. Even her innocence was hot; really hot actually. Then he felt her fingers trail into his hair and he dipped his head, resting at the crook of her neck.

He couldn't help himself, his hands moving to her hips and sliding up her side to slide back down. She made a soft little sound and he felt another layer of his self control shred to pieces. For months he had wanted her so badly, restraining himself – with some effort a lot of times – and now he had her, now she was _his_. Even though his mind was saying that they needed to take things slow like she needed his body was telling him to go fuck himself – or have her fuck him, the latter being preferable.

_Alright, I admit it; this might have been a really bad idea._

Straightening, he tilted her chin up to face him with his fingers and kissed her. Gently at first, relishing the feel of her lips again after months of keeping away. Her hands moved behind his head pulled him down, pressing their lips further together. She moaned softly when he delved into her mouth, deepening the kiss.

That little moan removed the last shred of his self-restraint and he pulled her hard against his body, arms circling her. Slowly, his fingers began to unfasten the collar around her neck. Hinata let out a soft gasp and pulled away a bit. He chuckled darkly.

"I just want to have access to your neck." He murmured in her ear and as if to prove his point he began to trail his lips along her neck, brushing softly. She tilted her head to give him better access and he trailed kisses from her neck down to her shoulders and back up again. Her breath caught and then became heavier. There was a soft cry when he bit her neck lightly.

He kissed her again, more passionately, his hand sliding down her hip and to her thigh. It wasn't like the others, this was hard and heavy, his mouth trying to dominate hers. They broke apart gasping and his kisses along her neck and shoulder became fervent. His hand slid up and under her dress and his mouth began to trail further down towards her breasts. When his hand drifted up and cupped her ass, pressing her against his growing erection she gasped, alarmed.

"S…Sasuke…" it came out slightly panicked and he immediately halted in what he was doing, his breathing heavy and slightly uneven. Hands slightly shaky he lifted the collar and slowly fastened it back around her neck.

_Shit. _"Sorry," his voice was deep, husky against her ear "I know I promised. I lost control there for a second." _Fuck, but you felt good and it's been a while._

"It's alright…" leaning back she gave him a small smile, her face heavily flushed, lips swollen from their kissing.

_I need air and she needs to stop looking at me like that or I'm going to lose it._

"Come on," turning he took her hand and began to lead her towards his balcony "Let me show you what I was talking about earlier. It's actually one of the reasons why I picked this place."Rolling back the window pane he guided her out to the balcony, the wind blowing lightly. Putting his hands on her shoulders he continued to guide her forward until she could see over the banister.

The city lights winked at them from far below in beautiful colors of all shapes and sizes. There was a small intake of breath from Hinata and then she made a little sound of wonder.

"It's beautiful." She remarked.

"Hn." He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and rested his chin on top of one, watching the scene with her. "This place is large as hell and impractical for someone like me but I had liked the view so I took it."

"It is wonderful," her voice sounded as if in awe. Her hands rested on his wrists "and your apartment is really big. I really do think it's as big as my house."

He kissed her cheek "Yeah, I think it's the same square footage." A small shrug "I might move into something smaller soon, this place is too damn big and empty. I actually kind of like how your house is colorful and full of…stuff. I never thought I'd enjoy living in any house that wasn't the size of a mansion."

Another giggle "I actually can't imagine you living in my little house either. You have an…overwhelming presence."

"Overwhelming?" he moved her so he could look at her face "What's that supposed to mean?"

"W-well I-I mean it's just…" she looked shyly away from him "It just seems like if we were to ever live together we would have to get a slightly bigger place because um, when you're in the house it's kind of like your presence fills it."

"Are you trying to say that I'm stifling?" he was a little offended.

"N-no!" she pulled away from him, holding up her hands "It's more like, the house is too small for the three of us. When I brought it I was only thinking about myself and Kenta, so it's somewhat condensed. With you there it makes it feel really condensed, so it would probably be better to get something slightly bigger, um, if we were to ever decide to live together."

Crossing his arms, he leaned against the banister and sniffed indigently "Whatever."

Giggling now, she walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck "I really don't mean it in a bad way. There's nothing wrong with having an um, strong presence. Isn't that supposed to be normal for a man?"

"Huh." His hands slid around her waist and pulled her to him "Nice save. You're lucky you're hot and I want to kiss you again, otherwise I'd give you a piece of my mind."

"How about we call it even from when you said I had horrible fashion sense?"

There was a pause. "…Fair enough." He bent down to claim her lips.

xxxxx

The president of the Uchiha Corporation was working a little late tonight, deft fingers moving skillfully over the keys of the company desktop. He had been so engrossed in his work that he didn't notice the small envelope symbol on his personal laptop until much later. When he saw who it was from his delicate brows furrowed slightly.

_What is my little brother up to?_ He clicked open the e-mail, leaning back to read the short message aloud.

"Dear Itachi," his deep voice cut through the silence "I've been taking pictures of Hinata and of Hinata with her kid, Kenta. I figured you'd want to take a look since you've never seen him or her outside of work." A small sigh. "I'm not entirely sure why father sent Sasuke to all of those private schools if he was just going to speak like a…"

Itachi abruptly cut himself off. He had opened the attachments. Slowly he looked through every picture, his expression completely impassive. When the president finished, he closed out the e-mail and turned off his laptop. Turning, he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Walter? Itachi Uchiha. I need a favor."


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: **Because I had a rant for chapter 10 I'm replacing it with an actual chapter. Erm, this chapter comes before the pron and…oy. I actually don't like the next chapter but whatev.

Anyway, this chapter holds Itachi's reaction to Hinata's wardrobe, which IMO was freaking hilarious and it seems like folks have been waiting for it. I hope I don't disappoint. XD

Some folks were surprised by how Itachi had, basically, acted like a spoiled brat. He was very subtle/sneaky about it, but yeah, that's pretty much what he did. I think that's actually what I loved the most about writing Itachi in this, because he's supposed to be the exact same as Sasuke, he just does everything differently but the results/intentions are the same. I think when I wrote him like that I envisioned him being amused by doing those things, showing everyone one side of him when there's more to him than that (like being incredibly vain and egotistical). Like I said, I _loved_ writing Itachi in this thing, he made me laugh so much (but that's because I know what goes on in my head and what I didn't put in this fic XD)

Enjoy and has giggles.

Oh yeah, I still hate fanfiction dot net's inability to give love to my spacings.

xxxxx

**Chapter Ten**

xxxxx

Sasuke looked up at his girlfriend as she walked into his office at around nine in the morning, a standard sized box in her arms. When she reached his desk she plopped the box down and he was able to take a look at her. She had a very pensive expression and her face was slightly red from embarrassment. Completely confused, he looked at the box and then looked up at her.

"Um, what's this?" he gave her a look "So you got a package, why bring it in here?"

Instead of answering him she thrust an envelope in his face. "T-this. It was on my desk this morning and I think…I think it's your brother's 'reaction'."

Startled, his eyes widened at the box. That seemed more than a little out of character for him although for some reason it reminded him of something that he couldn't quite recall completely. Still confused he took the letter from her hands, leaned back in his chair and read the contents.

_Ms. Hyuuga,_

_Sasuke sent me some pictures of you with your son yesterday. He looks quite charming. On another note, my maid has been doing some spring cleaning and came across some magazines. I receive all sorts of these that I don't really read and normally get rid of. When I saw the more female oriented magazines I thought of you; females do enjoy these types of things yes? In any case, I hope you find them useful._

It was signed by Itachi in a neat script. Sasuke sat there and stared at the letter, completely stunned. He blinked twice.

"Sasuke?" Hinata's soft voice came in "Is it what I think it is?"

At this point, there was only one way he could handle this without getting his girlfriend angry with him. Slowly, he refolded the letter and slid it back into the envelope. Gently placing the envelope on his desk he stood up and opened the flaps of the box, peeking at the various stacks of magazines. He could feel Hinata's pale gaze on him. Taking a step back, he put a hand over his mouth.

"Excuse me." He blurted out quickly and tried to make a break for it.

Hinata's hands grabbed his forearm "Sasuke!" she cried "You're laughing at me, aren't you?"

He lost it right there, laughing loud and hard at the situation. She pushed at him and he laughed even harder, holding his hands up in the air in a pacifying gesture. Eventually he settled down to small chuckles.

"I'm…I'm sorry…" he said between chuckling "It's just…I _told_ you my brother was a dick and you refused to believe me." He raised his voice an octave "Oh, Sasuke, I just can't believe that someone as kind and humble –" his voice cracked at that and his expression faltered "as Mr. Uchiha could be a dick. Man, I can't even say 'humble' and 'Itachi' in the same sentence with a straight face." He muttered the last part with a short laugh and continued "I think you should give him the benefit of the doubt; he could have change –"

He was cut off when Hinata pushed at him again, her face a bright red and her expression torn between trying to be mad and trying not to laugh.

"D-did he really have to go so far?" she pouted a bit, turning towards the box. "I mean…why did he have to be so mean about it?"

"Because my brother is a _dick_." Sasuke started laughing again "I don't know how many times I have to say it before you believe me. I told you, he's just as bad as I am, he's just more subtle about it – which is actually why _this_ is so hilarious." His hand slapped the box.

Curious, she turned to him "What do you mean?"

"Well, I had figured that Itachi would make some kind of hint to you or do something discreet because that's his style. He's hardly ever obvious about anything he does. However," he coughed for a second, pausing as he laughed a little bit again "the more upset my brother is about something the less subtle he is. There is _nothing_ subtle about this box Hinata. So if you take the fact that my brother's actions reflect his mood this is the equivalent of him _screaming_ at you to go get a new wardrobe. Immediately." He broke out into laughter again, just because it was too damn funny "The last time Itachi did something like this was when I was fifteen and he found out I was having sex. He sent me a _case_ of condoms and a letter telling me, in his 'Itachi' way, that if I got her pregnant he'd disown my ass." Laughing again, he flopped back into his chair, looking up at her.

"I think…" she said with a small sniffle "I think I kind of hate you two." It was obvious that she wasn't at all serious but he reached out for her hand anyway, thankful for the box being in the way should anyone walk by. "You're both really mean."

"I'm sorry, Hinata, I really am. I didn't think he'd react like _that._" Still smiling he trailed his thumb along her wrist in a soothing motion. "To be honest, I knew this was a sucker's bet when I brought it up; I almost didn't do it because I knew you'd lose. I mean really, if I'm a dick who do you think I learned it from?"

She let out a small sigh, still slightly pouting. "What made you change your mind?"

He snorted "Seeing you in that outfit I'm going to get changed my mind." It was said as if it was obvious.

Hinata gave him a face "You keep trying to put me in tight and revealing clothes."

"Because you're _hot_ and you're twenty three and it's a complete _shame_ you hide it." Tugging on her wrist to pull her a little closer he began to move his hand up and down the back of her arm "Look, if it makes you feel any better Itachi left a voice mail on my phone last night bitching me out about how I should be ashamed to be an Uchiha for letting you wear such clothes while in my company."

"It doesn't make me feel better."

"Alright, I'll make it up to you. I'll bite the elitist bullet and cook you dinner. If you've got a special dish I'll even make that."

Surprise flickered in her eyes "You really know how to cook?"

"Of course I can. I'm an amazing cook." He shrugged "I was curious about it a few years back so I studied up on it a bit. I have a photographic memory so I've memorized…hell if I know how many recipes. It helped a lot during school, I never studied for anything and I only have to be told something once for me to get it."

"O-oh…that sounds really amazing." Her face had returned to its natural pale hue and she looked a little sad.

Sasuke looked at his door and felt a little frustrated that he couldn't close it because it'd look too suspicious. He tugged her a little closer and looked up at her. "Hinata." When she didn't look at him he sighed "You know, you're fine the way you are right? Do you think I'd want to be with you if it bothered me _that_ badly?" his smile was small and didn't quite reach his eyes "But I also like the way you look dressed up. You don't think so but you're very attractive physically…" his gaze shifted "trust me; I'm not the only one who thinks so." He muttered, sounding a little annoyed.

That made her giggle "I didn't think you were the jealous type."

"I'm _not_." He protested "If I was, I wouldn't want to show you off. It's just…when a bunch of guys get together they tend to talk about…certain things. Women they're attracted to or want to do…things with. It's one thing to ignore a guy looking at a girl you like, it's another thing to _hear_ what they want to do with that girl in a room full of like-minded individuals. Sometimes when your name pops up it pisses me off a little. Now that we're together it's probably going to piss me off even more, but whatever."

His girlfriend blanched and looked horrified "You guys really get together and…and talk about women that way?"

"You have no idea. And don't ask me who's saying what, I'm not going to tell you that. Just know that yeah, all guys are perverts and yeah, we all want in your pants."

xxxxx

Over a sixth month period a few things happened to Sasuke. One of the major things was that he was on somewhat speaking terms with Naruto. The two still only communicate through e-mails although they've gotten to the point where they joke around with each other again. Neither one of them ever mentioned Sakura or what happened. Although Naruto had suggested a few times that the two of them get together Sasuke is still hesitant to actually see the blonde again, not sure how he would react.

His relationship with Hinata became very steady and stable. Sasuke spent the majority of his time with mother and son although whenever he would stay over he'd sleep on the couch. It was a little weird for him to be with a girl and not have sex with her, but he couldn't really figure out what her deal was and asking had seemed too pushy. He thought a lot about how he felt about the two new people in his life and about the time when Hinata mentioned them all really living together. At the time he had - and he was sure she had shared his sentiments – felt that moving in right away would have been a little fast. In a lot of ways, their relationship was similar to their friendship, except now he was able to kiss and feel up on her every now and then. She gave him a spare key to her house to which he has yet to use – he doesn't have a need for it – and he decided to give her the spare key to his apartment. That had been a weird thing for him as he'd never given a girl a key to any of the places he had stayed at. It didn't really matter as Hinata wouldn't come over anyway at any strange hour because she had Kenta; but it had still felt weird.

Sasuke's relationship with Hinata's son was something he had never expected. The boy was to be seven this year and he was already growing faster than Hinata could keep up with concerning his clothes. It was as if one week she would buy him shoes and the next week she had to go out and buy a larger size because he had grown out of them. The two of them did a lot of things together with or without Hinata, most of them things he had wanted to do as a kid with his own father and it just never happened. Kenta had joined the recreational soccer team and so at times when Sasuke could, he would drop the boy off and either stick around or come back at a later time to pick him up. If he had a game both he and Hinata made it a point to try and be there if they could, although sometimes it was just too difficult with their schedules. Often times when he was out by himself with Kenta people would mistake the boy for his son, and after a while he stopped trying to correct them. Eventually Sasuke had to come to terms with the fact that he was beginning to see the boy as one of his own, even if he hadn't liked it at first. He loved that little boy as if he truly were his father and it was a strange sensation for someone who had – and still did – hated children. When Kenta hurt himself he was worried, if the boy was sad he'd try to cheer him up, if Kenta tried to get one over on his mom he stopped him. Kenta didn't call him 'father' but it was very clear that he saw him to be something close to that.

As for whether or not he was in love with Hinata…that was still on the fence for him. Sasuke cared for her a great deal, he loved having her in his life, but loving a woman was different from loving a child. It wasn't as if Hinata had ever told him that she loved him, but he could see it sometimes when they would be alone and he would just look at her. Sasuke was pretty sure that she probably wouldn't say those 'three little words' unless he said them first, which he was actually happy about. It had been so uncomfortable when his girlfriends would go 'I love you' and he knew that his lack of answer hurt their feelings. Hinata was a very unobtrusive person, if you wanted her around, she was there. If you did not, she backed away. His relationship with her was probably one of the most comfortable he'd ever had.

Something flickered on his computer screen, driving him from his thoughts. It was around ten in the evening and he was still in his office working on a very important project. Rubbing his eyes due to the glare he opened up his mailbox and saw that he had an e-mail from…

Sakura.

He almost deleted it on the spot and then wondered why he would do that. It wasn't as if he didn't want to restore their friendship one day yet looking at her name irritated him. Shoving his hands through his hair he opened the message and began reading.

_Sasuke,_

_It's been almost a year since we've last spoke, I've sat here for a long time thinking about what I wanted to really say to you and how I wanted to say it. Naruto tells me that you two have been talking through e-mails and that you won't respond to phone calls or personal visits, so I asked Naruto for your work e-mail. I don't know what you'll think of me after you read this, but I do want us to perhaps be friends again even though we can't go back to the way things were. Everything you're about to read is the truth, as accurately as I can tell it. So here goes._

_I think I fell in love with you at first sight all those years ago, I'm not sure. Growing up, all I wanted was for you to notice me and like me, but it was as if I was invisible to you. I know you probably knew how I felt and just never said anything and sometimes I wish you had. Maybe I wouldn't have continued to try so hard to win you over. When I finally confessed everything and pretty much begged you to be with me I knew you didn't love me, I knew you didn't even like me like that. I thought that if we were together I'd work hard and eventually you would return my feelings. I almost gave up at first; when we first started dating you wouldn't hold my hand or kiss me, I had to make all of the moves until you finally gave in. You were drunk the first time we had sex and then after that it was as if you had shrugged and went "Well, I've already done it once so…" Still, I kept trying because after so many years I finally had you and I loved you so much I couldn't stand it. Then you kept getting promotions and I kept seeing less and less of you. It was like you didn't have time for me anymore and when you were around and we would go out or I would tell you that I loved you your eyes would just kind of glaze over and you'd never respond._

_Two years of that…it got to me. I began to become angry with you because I couldn't see what I was doing wrong that would keep you from loving me. I began to think it was other women, although you always swore you never cheated on me. And then it seemed that not only did you not love me but you didn't trust me either. I gave you a key to my apartment but you refused to give me one to yours. I didn't understand why you seemed to hold such a low opinion of me. I was so angry and confused and I think maybe I started even hating you a little bit._

_What happened between Naruto and me really was an accident the first time. We had both been at a party and both of us were pretty smashed but I remember that Naruto came up to me and started spouting out his feelings. That he loved me and always loved me and that while he was happy that I was finally with you that he still couldn't seem to get over me. I think that's what did it, that's what made me sleep with him. The next morning when we both realized what had happened Naruto wanted to go to you immediately, I want you to understand that. He wanted to tell you and I stopped him. I told him that I would do it, since I was your girlfriend. After that I started hanging around Naruto more and it was everything I wanted, except the guy wasn't you. The second time I went to him on purpose and he had been drunk then as well, although not as bad as that first night._

_I want you to know that Naruto had always tried to get me to tell you from the first night, but I didn't. I didn't want to. I felt so angry and hurt and confused and I wanted you to feel that, I wanted you to see how it felt to be hurt by someone you cared about. It got to a point where even Naruto felt that we couldn't tell you right away because it had become too much. I think after a while he just tried to forget it so he wouldn't feel as guilty._

_I had thought about breaking up with you so many times, but no matter what I still knew in my heart that I loved you, and so I couldn't do it. I didn't want to lose you, but I had wanted to feel loved as well. I still love you, but I can't keep lying to myself anymore; you don't love me and you never will._

_That woman you said you were attracted to…are you with her now? Is she pretty? Do you love her? I constantly ask myself these questions you know, and it hurts but I'm also happy for you too. What I did was wrong, Sasuke, I'm not going to try and say that it wasn't, but at the same time I wish you had just flat out told me everything or broken up with me…it felt as if I was just being strung along for such a long time. Anyway, I want you to know that I am sorry and I do still love you, I'll always love you._

_Naruto and I…I don't know what we are right now. He became very distant after that night and we don't talk as much as we used to. We haven't slept together since then either. I don't know if I love him, you've been my only focus and thought for so long it doesn't feel as if anyone could replace it. I do care for him, I love the way he makes me feel when I'm with him, so maybe one day something will happen again, I'm not sure._

_I know you'll probably never forgive me for what I've done, but I hope one day all three of us can be friends again…I know none of us are happy with things being the way they are. I think I've said enough, I love you Sasuke, please take care of yourself._

For a long time Sasuke sat at his desk, his chin resting on his clasped hands upheld by his elbows. He read the e-mail once. Then twice. After that he stared unfocused at the computer for the duration of the time, going over her words in his head.

Slowly, he reached for the mouse and hovered the icon over the delete button and then stopped. Instead he closed out of the program and shut off his monitor, deciding he was done for the night. Sasuke had debated on going to his apartment and then changed his mind. He didn't want to be alone right now. When he found himself outside of Hinata's house he dug into his pocket for her house key. It was already well past eleven and all the lights were off. More than likely, she would be asleep. He thought once again about going back to his apartment and once again decided against it. Sasuke didn't know what he would do around Hinata but being alone wasn't an option, he wasn't entirely sure what would happen with the mood he was in.

Quietly, he slipped into the house, feeling like some sort of burglar. He locked her door from the inside and shrugged out of his suit jacket and tie, tossing them on the arm rest of her sofa. He'd be there in a few minutes anyway; right now he just wanted to see his girlfriend. Carefully, he tiptoed up the stairs, surprised at how they weren't creaky or made strange sounds and soon found himself in Hinata's room. Closing the door behind him, he turned the lock and made his way to her.

The lights were out and he could see her sleeping form underneath the covers of her queen sized bed. Walking over he stood over her bed for a while just looking at her. One of the streetlights was pouring light into the room, just enough to see around. Her hands looked delicate near her face, thick lashes brushed against pale skin. She was wearing something he recognized but couldn't quite place due to the covers.

Sasuke debated on waking her. She needed her sleep just like anyone else and he had never stopped by so late before. At the same time, he really needed to be with her right now, to deal with the turbulent thoughts and feelings going on within him. Although Hinata was his girlfriend she was also his confidant; there wasn't anyone he could talk to about his problems like he could with her. She always listened and never tried to judge, although if you wanted her opinion she would give it. He needed someone to listen, he needed her opinion.

"Hinata," he whispered, making his decision "Hinata, wake up."

She didn't move, didn't even flinch. He smirked a bit; obviously she was not the light sleeper he was. He called out her name a little louder a few more times and she rolled over at his last call but didn't awaken.

Giving her a look he sat down gently, his hand drifted to a pale shoulder, shaking lightly. "Hinata," he kept his voice soft. This time her lashes fluttered and she let out a soft noise of protest. He continued to shake "Hinata, wake up."

"Mmm…" frowning, her eyes eventually fluttered open and she looked up at him. Surprise registered on her face and she blinked owlishly at him "Um…good…evening?" she sounded confused.

"It's almost eleven thirty." He clarified for her and she sat up, putting a hand to her mouth as she yawned. As the sheet dropped he realized that she was wearing one of the silk pajama sets he had brought for her. It looked like the cream one from what he could tell and one strap slid tantalizingly down her shoulder. He resisted the urge to reach out and touch her.

Hinata rubbed her eyes "Sasuke? What's wrong? It's so late." Another yawn "Did something happen?"

"Yeah," he admitted "Something happened. I needed to see you."

In the artificial light her pale eyes actually made it difficult for him to see if she was really looking at him. Stretching a little she turned so that she was better facing him. Her expression melted into one of concern when she took in his tense and obviously upset features, a delicate hand moving up to touch his face. "Sasuke…"

"Sakura e-mailed me tonight." Her hand stopped in mid air and something unfamiliar flashed in her eyes, leaving him a little confused. Turning her head from him he could tell from her profile that she looked sad. "I almost deleted it, but I didn't. I just kind of got up and left the office and came here." Unable to help himself, he felt his hand brush along her back, enjoying the feel of her silk top.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Her gaze turned back to his and the sadness was still there, but so was the worry. "You look so upset."

With a small sigh he shifted so that he was lying on her bed, his arm behind her. His hand went back to its previous position, dark eyes on the ceiling. "I don't really know I'm supposed to feel about her e-mail, because a lot of what she was saying seemed as if she had been trying to tell me that I was just at fault for what happened as she."

Hinata didn't respond at first. "Why does she believe that?"

"A few reasons, I guess. She thinks that if I had told her that I hadn't felt that way from the beginning that she probably could have gotten over me. Even though she's the one who begged me to date her, it was as if she felt I was partly to blame for not being more firm with her, although she also admitted that she knew I didn't feel the same." He sighed and put his other hand to his eyes. "It's a bunch of dumb shit and the more I think on it the more it pisses me off. She told me that she went out of her way not to tell me she was sleeping with my friend even though he had tried to get her to from the beginning."

A small gasp "W-why? Why would she try to hurt you like that?"

"She was pissed. She didn't like the fact that I couldn't return her feelings, that she couldn't change me the way she had wanted to. That's pretty much what it all boils down to. She couldn't change me and so she eventually became bitter and angry and lashed out. I don't know why she really believes that she's in love with me, but she does and that was why she didn't break up with me even though she had known that she should have." His hand bunched against her top as he made a fist "Why would you do that to a friend? I don't get it, are _all_ girls this vindictive? She kinda fucked both me and Naruto over because she couldn't get over whatever the fuck she had for me. Why should I have gone out of my way to keep her off of me when she _knew_ I didn't feel that way? If she was trying to change me anyway what the fuck would it have mattered if I said anything or not? She still would have fucking done it, so trying to pin some blame on me so she could justify her fucked up demented actions pisses me off." There was a hard sigh from him "Sorry. I didn't mean to sound like that."

"I understand." Her voice was quiet "You're upset."

"And you know what? I don't even know why I should give a fuck. Why does it even matter that she cheated on me if I didn't even like her? Am I the one keeping us from being friends again or something? I'm tired of dwelling on this shit."

"Then don't dwell on it." Removing his hand from his eyes he looked up at her and met her pale gaze. There was something…strange in her expression. "Put it behind you and try to move on. We can't…we can't change the past, but we can look forward to the future."

"Hinata?" he sat up, slightly concerned "What's up?"

She shook her head "It's…I hate the fact that someone who was such a strong presence in your life would hurt you so badly and now you…"

"Now I what?" Moving closer he leaned close to her

"Well…it's just that…even though it's been a while it seems as if she still somewhat controls your life and your decisions because of what she did. I can't really compete with someone you've known all of your life."

_Huh?_ "Wait, Hinata…are you jealous of her? I'm not going to leave you for her."

There was a bit of hesitation "I…don't really know how to explain it. I suppose I am a little jealous, the two of you have shared with each other more than you and I ever will, but I think it's…I think maybe I'm jealous over the hold she still seems to have over you. You may not have loved her the way she wanted, but you did love her and that's why it hurts you so badly. I…Kenta loves you and I care for you as well…if memories of her are so painful, can't we fill in that gap?"

There was silence as he digested her words. "Alright."

"What?"

"You're right." He mused "If I have all of these painful memories of her then the solution is to push them out with something else, or you and Kenta in this case." His arms came around and pulled her close, tilting her face up to kiss her "Tonight," he whispered "I'll think of you to until there's no room for anything else." He claimed her lips possessively.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

xxxxx

Warm hands moved underneath the cream silk top to touch soft skin. Lips moved against lips in an intense and passionate dance for dominance and possession. There was a warm feeling that was spreading all over her body and to her most intimate regions. There was also a small sense of panic and worry, making her hesitate. He could sense it, she knew he could, so he parted from her lips and trailed hot kisses down her neck.

"I'm not going to try and go that far," his lips brushed along her skin as he spoke "I made a promise remember?"

Closing her eyes she stopped him by framing his face in her hands and pulling him back. When she had his attention her hands slid down to his chest, her gaze following.

"I have something I need to confess to you. Um, since we're admitting to things." Her voice was low, as if too ashamed to say the words.

Dark eyes scanned her face in slight confusion "What?"

Her hands bunched into fists "I haven't been pushing you away because I don't want to…you know."

"Have sex?" he offered, raising an amused eyebrow.

Must he be so blunt all the time? "Y-yes…" she fought down her rising blush "The thing is…I've been um, scared and intimidated."

It was very obvious that he didn't understand what she meant at all "I'm just going to ask you why instead of tell you the first thing that came to mind." He deadpanned. Knowing him it had probably been perverted.

A small sigh. It was so strange being around someone so _open_ about such things. For him, it was what it was and he was too arrogant to feel bashful or timid about intimate subjects. "It's just…well, you know that you're the first person I've been with…but you've had a lot of girlfriends."

He gave her a look and then shrugged. "So what?"

_Let me finish!_ "Well it's just…I'm not experienced in this sort of thing so…I don't know if I'd be good enough." She said the last part very low, to the point where he had actually leaned in to catch it.

He was still confused and she wasn't sure if she would be able to explain it any other way. "So, you're just worried that you won't be a good lover because you're a virgin?" he raised an eyebrow in a 'Are you serious?' sort of way.

Instead of trying to explain herself further she simply nodded. He made a disbelieving snort and leaned back, looking into her surprised face.

"Hinata, do you think I just popped out of my mom knowing how to have sex?" The question had thrown her so off guard she began to splutter "Never mind. The point is that, believe it or not, I was a virgin once and so it's not like I don't understand. Unless your partner knows what they're doing you're going to fumble a lot." He sighed "My first time was with a girl who had only been with one other guy and it was weird and awkward as hell. You can understand and read up on sex as much as you want – trust me, I did – but when it comes to doing it for the first time, you're going to be all thumbs."

"Yeah but…"

"Hinata, you understand the basic functions of sex right?"

She made a face at him "Of c-course I do!"

"Yeah, it's pretty cut and dry. After that it's all you learning what a person likes or doesn't like during sex and I already know what I like." He leaned in and began to brush his lips along her neck "All I have to do is tell you, it's up to you if you want to try it. And don't feel as if you have to compete with girls I haven't even seen in years. I'm with you so obviously, you're good enough."

She felt his fingers brush along the edge of her breast, as if he were teasing or asking for permission. A shiver went through her when his tongue moved along her neck before he went back to those hot kisses. A soft sound escaped.

"That's one thing I love," he murmured against her skin "those little noises you make, it makes it hard to think."

Cool air hit her midriff as he began to pull the top off of her. Instinctively she lifted her arms and before she realized it she was topless. Pushed back along the mattress, Sasuke now laid half over her. His hand slid up her stomach and cupped her breast, making her back arch and a soft moan escape her lips.

A low sound from his throat was his response. "Hinata, do you want to do this? I'll stop right now; we can just go to sleep. It is late."

"I – " her hand moved up to brush along his face "If you say I'm…good enough then…I am a little scared but –"

"Do you trust me?"

She nodded "Yes."

The warmth of his hand trailed down along her stomach and rested there. Still half on top of her he leaned down to whisper in her ear "Listen, it's been about ten months and I've wanted you this entire time so I might end up being a little – passionate. I won't hurt you, I promise. I'll tell you what I want you to do and how it makes me feel. I think it'll help your confidence and get you to relax. Think of it as a lesson, if you want, I don't care."

A small giggle "A…sex lesson?"

He gave her a look "Hey, I'm helping _you_ out here okay? You're the one that's having the confidence issues."

"I'm sorry." She was still giggling a little. That was cut off when he covered her mouth with his in a hard kiss, hand drifting back up to her exposed breast. A soft moan slipped, swallowed by his mouth claiming hers possessively. His thumb flicked over the sensitive bud and she arched her back again, feeling hot and damp at her core. Lips tore apart and he was back at her neck, his hand still on her breast. Her little gasps filled the silence in the room. Slowly his hand moved from her breast and slid down her stomach. Her body tensed as if in anticipation, she could feel his lips brushing along the expanse of her neck.

"Put your hand where mine is." His voice was low and almost…shaky?

Her lover shifted so she could move her hand down to where his was. When he felt her fingers brush along he moved his hand on top of hers and then his hand continued its downward path. Having an idea of what he was about to have her do she could feel embarrassment creep up.

"S-Sasuke?" she sounded uncertain.

"Trust me." He reassured, guiding her hand lower. "Don't try to think of anything besides the moment."

His fingers guided her underneath her clothes to her sex and his fingers pushed along hers over the damp folds. Pleasure filled her and she let out a soft moan. When he began to move his hand from hers she almost stopped, feeling awkward.

"Don't stop." His breath was hot along her neck. She could feel his hands at her hips, pulling down at the fabric "Take your other hand and do what I was doing to your breast."

The awkwardness increased "Y-you want me to…?"

"Yes." His lips brushed along her thighs as he pulled the rest of the fabric off of her. When he sat back up his gaze was hot on her body and he began to unbutton his shirt. "Don't stop, you look beautiful."

Face heating and still feeling a little awkward she closed her eyes as she fondled herself in front of him, hoping that the rising pleasure would help her get over it.

"Hinata." The voice sounded strained "Look at me."

When her eyes fluttered open and took him in Sasuke was discarding his shirt but his eyes were locked onto her body. The desire was there behind those dark depths, hot and heavy. He looked as if he wanted badly to touch her yet he didn't, he just looked down at her body, at her touching herself.

"My name," he murmured "Say it."

The tension began to build and she gasped out his name, closing her eyes for a moment. Her embarrassment was forgotten as her fingers and her hand touched where she needed to be touched. There was the soft sound of a zipper. Somehow she was able to open her eyes, panting, moaning softly. His gaze never left hers as a hand moved down to his freed cock, rubbing slowly. She couldn't exactly see what he was doing as he had told her to look up at him but she could see the movements and a strange sensation came over her. Sasuke's eyes, his face, everything about him screamed that he wanted nothing more than to take her right then and there, but he didn't. Her lover was purposefully avoiding touching her.

"Again," he commanded "I want to hear my name on your lips. Spread your legs a little wider."

The command seemed to only make her more hot and tense and she complied, voice a little louder than before. The tension in her body began to reach a breaking point. She couldn't keep her eyes open as her hand began to move faster and squeeze harder. It was an effort to keep her hips from rising and the little gasps were turning into soft moans.

"S-Sasuke," she panted "I…I'm…"

"Ride it out," his voice was thick, strained "I want to see you. I want to hear you say my name when you come." He let out a harsh breath "Fuck, you look so goddamn hot Hinata, I don't know if I'll be able to do all of what I wanted."

Doing as he commanded, she 'rode it out', a long soft cry filled the room as she reached her climax, her hips arching, gasping for air. Then it faded and she could feel her body relax, grounding. Eyes fluttered open and locked onto Sasuke's. There wasn't a word to describe the way he looked down at her at that moment; it was a mixture of so many things.

"You were beautiful," he rumbled "Come here. I had wanted to do more with you but it's been too fucking long and what you just did was the hottest fucking thing I've ever seen."

Slowly, she began to rise, briefly realizing that he tended to become more vulgar the more emotional he felt about something. It felt a little exhilarating that _she_ was the one making him look and act like that, as if she held as much power as he. Something unfortunate but important found its way into her mind.

"U-um Sasuke? Do you um…do you have…?"

"I haven't been carrying them." He answered for her. There was a slight hesitation "Are you on birth control?" when she nodded he motioned for her to come closer as he backed against her headboard for balance. "It's good enough." It came out as a low, harsh growl.

Hiding the urge to smile she lifted to her knees and began to move towards him. Once again she felt his hot gaze slide up and down her naked body and some of her shyness began to creep back up.

He had noticed. Something changed in his expression "Come here and straddle me."

Hinata's eyes widened slightly. "A-already…?"

"No." he motioned for her to move closer and when she was straddling him he pulled her hips down until her core was pressed against him. He grunted "I want you to start rocking your hips against me. Go slow, get used to it and then move faster once you get the hang of it."

"O-oh." She let out a shaky sigh, realizing that it wasn't quite time for _that_ yet. "Like this?"

Wet folds slid over a hardened cock and they both gasped from the pleasure. His hands moved to her hips before he realized what he was doing and slid them up her sides.

"Y-yeah…" it came out as a shudder "You're doing great." Grabbing both sides of her face he pulled her down for a kiss and it distracted her so that she lost her rhythm at first. He didn't complain and she merely tried again as his lips moved over hers. Once again he trailed down her neck and then dipped his head to her breasts. One hand moved over the breast she had not touched previously while his mouth closed in on the other. She cried out softly, his attention to her breasts increasing the pleasure of her rubbing along his length. Her hips began to increase in their tempo and she heard his muffled moan.

Unable to help it he broke from her, his hands moving back down to her hips. "I-I think…I think you've gotten it…" without preamble she felt her hips being lifted slightly and she found herself on her back, two fingers entering into her. He moved slowly and smoothly, somewhat stretching her. "I'm not going to take you in this position," he explained hoarsely "I just want to make this easier on you."

He continued his ministrations until she thought she would climax again. Right when she felt herself at that peak he pulled out and she actually let out a frustrated groan. He chuckled.

"Come here." He ordered again, "Straddle me again, except this time I want you to take me in."

Moving back to him her gaze flickered down and then back up to him, worried. He smirked, hands moving around her hips to pull her closer.

"I'll fit." He said to her "I promise." He positioned her so that she was right above him and he looked up at her "It's going to hurt," he explained "but this will let you go at your pace."

"Won't it…bother you?"

Another smirk "Nothing you could do right now would bother me, Hinata. You have no idea how long I've wanted this moment right here." Hands slid up her arms and he raised his head to her ear "I'll prove to you that you're good enough."

She felt him then, the tip sliding along and inside. Their gazes locked, his to make sure she wasn't in too much pain and hers in hope that he would be right. There was the sensation of being stretched and of something 'filling' her. His face remained impassive although his mouth had opened slightly for a moment. Then there was the all too familiar 'barrier' she had learned in her sex ed class oh so long ago and she pushed down. His grip on her hip and arm increased but he still showed nothing, staying focused on her. It hurt the further she went and once she stopped for a moment, too uncomfortable. Still Sasuke said nothing, did nothing, merely waited.

When the barrier broke and he filled her completely that was when his expression changed. Pleasure filled his features and both hands were at her hips. It was still a little painful so she sat for a moment, collecting herself.

"You are…" it sounded strangled "you –" his voice turned into a harsh growl as she began to move her hips. He was thick and hard and it felt immensely good once the initial pain had faded. Fingers dug into her skin as he began to guide her. Her hands slid to his shoulders to balance herself and his head rocked back as he let out a heavy gasp "You're so…" he made another sound "hot and tight…fuck I forgot how tight virgins were."

When she almost stopped the look he gave her quickly changed her mind and she went back to her slow rhythm. "Is that… a bad thing?" she whispered.

"No…no it's not…it's just I don't…I don't know if I'll be able to hold out like this."

Worry began to fill her "Sasuke?"

"Don't stop." He commanded, his hands pushing her hips further down "Don't you dare stop. M-move faster for me."

Her head arched back as pleasure moved through her as she increased her speed. Sasuke's breaths were coming out hard and uneven, his gaze at times unfocused. Then his mouth was everywhere, kissing her, biting along her neck and breasts, his harsh grunts and moans filling the room, covering over her softer sounds.

An idea struck her and she tried to actually roll her hips. It had been a little awkward but then she heard his voice, hard and hot along her ear. "Fuck! Hinata, don't stop doing that…"

So she contined. She rolled her hips and moved the way he guided her. His name whispered from her lips as her body began to tense once more.

"Hinata," it came out a slow moan "Hinata, you feel…so good…keep going, you're amazing."

His words and his hands moving up and down along her side and hips felt incredible. Her body hummed at his words, at knowing that he was obviously enjoying himself. She moved at his tempo and insistence, encouraging and telling her exactly how _she_ was making him feel. Then she felt it, that tensing, the sensation that she was about to reach her peak.

"Sasuke…" she panted, her hips moving faster than he was guiding her "Sasuke –"

When she began to move faster he let out a soft cry "Oh, gods…Hinata…you feel so fucking _good_…" His pants began to match with hers as her body began to move at a fever pitch. Their soft moans and noises became harsh breaths and cries. His hands went back to her hips, gripping hard, his own hips beginning to rise up to meet hers. They were both sweating and she could feel him getting thicker and she let out another cry.

"Keep going…" he gasped "Don't stop…just like that…" a loud moan "gods…fuck me Hinata…harder…" his arms were wrapped around her now, his face buried in the crook of her neck. "You're too good…those hips…" he thrust up hard inside of her "you're hot…so fucking hot…"

The grip on his shoulders increased just as she felt herself about to go over "Sasuke!" she cried "Sasuke, I'm…"

"Keep going Hinata…don't hold back."

This one hit her harder than the first one and she could feel herself tighten almost painfully around him as she spasmed Throwing her head back she let his name be a hard and heavy cry as she came again.

"Hinata!" it was a strangled cry "…don't stop…don't sto –" he was cut off as her muscles tightened around him and he hit his own climax. His hands gripped her hips and his own head went back as the wall would let it, a long hard moan filled the room followed by shorter gasps and his hands slid up her back and pulled her forward and into his body. His breath was heavy in her ear.

"Fuck, I am _never_ using a condom ever again." He sounded breathless "I'm just going to trust you to take your pills because that was best fucking thing I've ever felt."

Leaning back a bit she looked at him "You've always used one?"

"Yes," he leaned his head back again, breathing still slightly harsh. His hands began to slide all over her body and she let out a soft sound in appreciation "Growing up, I had a _lot_ of girls like me, a lot of it was borderline creepy and stalker-ish. I knew there'd be the risk of some girl swearing she was birth control and then nine months later I'm trapped in a relationship with the crazy and a kid. You're the first and I'm going to trust you because I'm not using a condom. Ever. Again."

Hinata giggled "Is the difference that immense?"

"Yeah, actually, there's a really huge fucking difference," he answered sincerely "I mean, it still feels good with one but without one it's like, twenty times better or some shit. Add on the fact that you were a virgin and that equals to best fucking sex ever."

Another giggle emerged and his hands slid along her back and sides "You're just saying that."

"No, Hinata," he said flatly "No, I'm _not_. If you're still not convinced wait ten minutes and I'll show you again how good you feel to me."

"Ten minutes?" she asked, a little confused.

"Yeah, _ten minutes_." He muttered "Who do you think you're dealing with? I don't need a half hour or three, ten minutes. After that though, I'm pretty positive it won't take that long. Then maybe, _maybe_ I'll let you go to sleep. I'll go slower next time, though. I had wanted to initially but…" he let out a noise "watching you do _that_ was..."

With another giggle she bent down to kiss him.

xxxxx

He didn't think she was asleep as he held her close in bed although her eyes were closed. His fingers brushed along her arm and shoulder and he looked down at her.

She had been beautiful. There wasn't any other word for it. Lying there on her bed, pale skin practically glowing in the artificial light, face flushed and looking _innocent_…there had been something about that. Sasuke wasn't entirely sure what that something was but he was able to come to the conclusion that innocent-looking woman doing interesting things to herself was hot as fucking hell.

He wouldn't tell her, but he actually had never had anyone else do that for him. He wasn't even sure why he had wanted her to do it, just that he had thought of it so many times before and in his mind _not_ doing it didn't seem like an option. Sometimes fantasies led to interesting realities.

Sasuke hadn't been lying to her about how she had made him feel, it had felt incredible; the best. Of course, it was mostly because of the lack of condom but that didn't matter. It seemed fitting that _she_ was the one to give him the best sex of his life. As far as he was concerned, she was it. If she dumped him, he probably would never date again, he felt that serious about her. And while finally taking her to bed had helped those feelings increase dramatically, they had already been there prior. Sasuke had already decided that he wasn't going to go anywhere, now he just felt firmer in that belief.

Which led him to his thought of whether or not she was asleep. If she was, he'd bring it up in the morning. If she wasn't, then he kind of wanted to talk about it now.

"Hinata?" it was a soft whisper, loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to awaken.

"Yes?" came the clear response. She turned a little to look at him "You're not tired?"

"I am." He admitted "But there's something I want to talk to you about."

Hinata moved back to her original position "Sure, what is it?"

He hesitated, paused. This was a huge thing for him, for all of them really. He asked himself one last time: "Am I ready for this? Can I go all the way with her?"

After he was quiet for a while she turned back, giving him a small smile although she also looked a little worried "Sasuke?"

The Uchiha looked down into her eyes, those beautiful pale orbs. He could see it, those looks that girls would give him when they were in love…but this was different. It was on a more genuine scale, one that was based on knowing and accepting him, flaws and all.

"I want us to get a house together." He finally let out, making his decision. Hinata was the first woman he had ever been attracted to, that could not be coincidence. He even loved her son and he _hated_ kids. Marriage wasn't something he wanted to pursue right away but living with her, sharing a home with her and her son, coming _home_ to the two of them instead of going back to his empty apartment…he wanted that, he really did.

This news made her turn fully around to face him, eyes wide "W-what?" she blinked, as if she felt that she hadn't heard him right. He smirked a bit.

"What?" he murmured "I can make commitments." Pulling her against him he moved his fingers through her hair "I'm tired of going back to my apartment," he explained "I don't want to set up times for us to meet; I want to see you and Kenta all the time. It doesn't have to be a big house, maybe something just a little bigger than this. I always thought that because I was rich that having a huge house was mandatory but living in a huge place by yourself isn't worth it when you have someone. I want us to raise the little brat together but I also want you in my life. Permanently."

She pulled his head down and kissed him. When she pulled back he could see her eyes shining. With a small smile she nodded almost shyly. "I want to," she admitted "I want the three of us to live together and…a-and be a family." She bit her lip at that last part; as if afraid she had said something wrong. He began to rub her back as reassurance. "You're not…asking me to marry you are you?" she didn't sound expectant, just curious.

"I don't know," he admitted "If I think about what I've just said to you, it wouldn't really matter if we got married or not; but the concept of marriage makes me feel extremely uncomfortable and it has nothing to do with you or being afraid to have you as my wife." Sasuke frowned, as if really thinking about it for the first time "I don't really know why." Which bothered him. He didn't like not knowing why he felt a certain way about something.

Hinata shook her head and kissed the frown on his lips "We don't have to do that, I was just wondering because buying a_ house_ together…"

"A really huge deal, I know." He pulled her closer "I don't know about marriage, but I know that I love you."

She stiffened against him and he smirked when her eyes flew up to his, widening in shock "S-Sasuke?"

_How can she be so cute and so sexy at the same time?_ "Hey." Still smirking he kissed her forehead "You heard me right."

There were no words for the beautiful expression that Hinata gave him. His breath caught in his throat and his chest felt tight. It was such an intense feeling; it was something he had never felt before. Or perhaps he merely fell even more in love with her.

Her pearl colored eyes shined with unshed tears as she pulled him down for a kiss. Just before their lips met, she told him that she loved him too.

xxxxx

"Come here kid," Sasuke motioned for Kenta to sit beside him on the couch "We're going to have a talk while your mom cooks breakfast."

There was a strange expression on the boy's face and the older man wondered briefly if perhaps the boy had an idea of what was going to happen. Kenta was a highly intelligent child so Sasuke never tried to lie to him or stretch the truth just because he was young.

"We've been hanging out a lot, haven't we?" he asked the boy and he nodded, a small smile on his face. "Your mother and I have been talking, would you like it if I lived with you guys?"

Pale eyes widened to almost comical proportions "Y-you mean…you're going to stay with my mom for real? L-like a family?"

He ruffled the boy's hair "Yeah, something like that. You and your mom…I want to be a permanent part of your lives. I don't want to just come visit you, I want us to do whatever whenever. How's that sound?"

The boy was contemplative and for a moment Sasuke almost thought he wouldn't answer him at all.

"So…does this mean you're going to marry my mom?"

It was a question he had expected so he wasn't surprised. Looking up, he made sure Hinata was in the kitchen before responding "I'm definitely thinking about it." He told the boy honestly "I really like your mom." _And there really isn't a reason for me not to marry her if I'm doing all of this. Besides, I think I know why marriage bothers me so much…_

The reason was foolish but a childhood scar nonetheless. Sasuke had stopped believing in marriages because of his parents; his dad had been a cheating asshole and his mother had suffered until she had eventually left altogether. But he wasn't Fugaku and he would _never_ cheat on Hinata. Never. Besides, he loved her, he truly and honestly loved her and wanted to become a part of her little family.

"Don't tell her I said that." Sasuke tells the boy "But yeah, I'm not going anywhere, you're stuck with me kid." He put his hand on top of the boy's head and Kenta laughed when Sasuke moved him back and forth.

"Okay." He flashed him a bright grin "So, can I call you dad now?"

Sasuke just stared at him in barely concealed shock. Did he just…? "You…want to do that?" he was very surprised. Normally kids never tried to call a guy that enters their lives 'father' and he would have been fine with that but…Kenta asking him that made him feel at a loss for words.

Seeing Sasuke's surprise the boy blushes and looks down "I…I really…I know you're not my real papa and mom isn't my real mom but…it feels like it when we're together. I've wanted a dad for as long as I can remember and I'd really like for it to be you."

The boy found himself pulled against Sasuke's side. Surprised, he looked up at the dark haired man and was surprised by the amount of emotion that was on his normally serious face.

"Kenta," he said, his voice slightly strained "call me whatever you want." His smile was shaky but it was a smile. He loved this little boy. He loved Hinata. Now the three of them were going to live together. All of a sudden, his bachelor lifestyle didn't seem so appealing anymore, not when he had a real family.

xxxxx


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Story is finished yo. I really am surprised by the amount of reviews this fic received, I guess Sasu/Hina is like super popular. Nonetheless, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed and enjoyed this story. It was fun, I liked writing Kenta and I liked writing Sasuke as a spoiled rich kid…because I totally think he would be if he had grown up in a modern setting with his family being rich as hell.

Short chapter is short.

xxxxx

**Chapter Twelve**

**Epilogue**

Xxxxx

It was beautiful.

It wasn't massive but it was definitely a house large enough for a few kids. It was in a very good neighborhood and Kenta would actually be attending the private school there. Hinata hadn't wanted to go that far but Sasuke had insisted, he wanted the boy to have the best. She loved how he really tried to dote on Kenta, how he tried to give him the life he had wanted as a child. The two boys had a very strong bond that only grew with each passing day.

Inside the house had a rather 'cabin-ish' feel to it, with their furniture and everything else it would look and feel just as homey and cozy as her other little house had. There were three bathrooms, one upstairs, one downstairs and one in the master bedroom. The movers would be by tomorrow but she was…she was so excited and happy. It was a rather expensive home but Sasuke took care of the finances and expensive or not it was what they had both wanted the moment they had stepped inside.

She found him out on the back patio, looking out at their backyard. When he heard her he turned, a brief smile emerged. "Hey." He greeted "Where's Kenta?"

His girlfriend giggled "In his soon-to-be room." She answered "He's so excited by how big it is. He's also looking forward to school, even if he has to wear a uniform." He held out his hand for her and she closed the distance between them. Putting an arm around her shoulders he looked down at her briefly.

"Wanna get a dog?" Hinata blinked up at his rather random question. A dog?

"Um…I guess?" she tilted her head "I thought you didn't like animals."

A small blush graced his features and Hinata giggled, realizing what was going on "Kenta wants a dog, doesn't he?"

Turning his head away from her he put his other hand in his pocket "Yeah. I mean, it's not like the back yard isn't big enough or anything. And it doesn't have to be a huge dog."

She put her arms around his middle "Are you trying to convince yourself or me?" she asked, her smile bright "You don't have to talk me into it, I'm fine with having a dog."

There was a small grunt from him but he didn't say anything else. She loved how shy he could be when it came to things like this; personal, family things. Family. It was still so difficult for her to believe that the three of them would be living in this beautiful home. There was one thing that had her confused.

"It's not that I don't love the house," she looked up at him when he gave her an inquisitive look "but I mean…why four bedrooms? I-I mean if it's j-just going to be the three of us…"

"Maybe one day I won't want it to be just the three of us." He said blandly, as if he didn't care one way or the other. With a small sigh he looked straight ahead "I'm already technically a father right? Besides, I think Kenta would like having a sibling or two one day."

His confession socked her. He wanted to…have children with her? Perhaps not now but he actually _wanted_ that? This was a huge change from when he had first brought up them purchasing a house almost six months ago. Resting her head against him she put a hand on his chest.

"That would be nice." She admitted. "I…I always have wanted to have a child, even though I had Kenta. You would think since I took him at a young age I wouldn't ever want to have children but –"

"Hinata." He cut her off and she looked up at him. His gaze was intense and she found herself feeling a little worried. Was something wrong? He looked so serious. "Marry me."

She blinked at him rapidly a few times. "What?"

Nervously, he put a hand through his hair "Look, I know back then I said I felt weird about marriage but I took this time with us looking for a house to really think about what I wanted. We're going to be living together. We're going to be a family. I actually want to have kids with you. I love you and Kenta and the only thing that had been keeping me back was fear. I don't like being afraid. I actually decided I'd ask you a month after we decided to move in together but I wanted to wait until we actually had the house to ask." He looked very uncomfortable "I know you're not really into fancy jewelry but…" he pulled out a small black velvet box, opening it to reveal a simple diamond ring. His discomfort increased but he looked at her "Marry me, Hinata." He said again "You're the only woman I've actually held real feelings for, there's no one else."

Still stunned, she could only look up at him as he nervously placed the ring on her finger. Blushing, she tried to form words but she felt her throat close up and her eyes water. So instead she merely nodded and buried her face in his chest. She felt all of the tension in him drop as he put his arms around her. Then he kissed her, short but passionate, looking at her.

"Did she say yes?"

Pale eyes flew up to her new fiancé as he shot the sliding door a glare, smirking slightly "You were supposed to wait till I said something, brat."

The boy rushed out, slamming into the adults' legs as he tried to hug them. He gave his mother those huge doe-like eyes children were so good at imitating "Did you say yes, mom?" when she nodded he looked up at Sasuke "See? I _told_ you she'd say yes." The older man gave the boy a mock glare.

"You're lucky I like you," he said, poking the boy's forehead. Kenta made a small noise and rubbed the spot "Oh yeah, she said we could get a dog too."

_We?_ Hinata smiled, he made it sound as if they had been conspiring against her. Well, if it was going to be like this she wouldn't mind it at all.

"Really?" the boy's eyes widened "We really can? I promise I'll take good care of it."

"I think having a dog would be wonderful." She told her little boy "Are there any more conspiracies I should know about?" she sounded amused.

"Well," Kenta began matter-of-factly "Dad's been talking about me getting sib –"

Putting a hand over the child's mouth, Sasuke lifted the boy over his shoulder "You talk too much." He told the boy who was giggling "I told you I gotta work on her about that one. Stuff like that takes time."

Hinata watched as he placed the boy down and crossed his arms when a million questions at once came out of the boy's mouth. Her eyes warmed as she listened to the low pitch of his voice as he answered the child's questions, his love for the boy obvious in those dark eyes of his.

Slowly, she put a hand over her stomach. Well, at least he wouldn't be upset when she finally told him…but she'll wait until tonight for that revelation; there had been enough pleasant surprises already.


End file.
